Welcoming Home Sheltering

Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times.  And think to yourself, "There's no place like home."  ~The Wizzard of Oz

I was alone this week.  Many of you know RB is working on another degree.   He's required to spend several weeks at the main campus in Missouri -- this was his first time to go.  Emily works in a Daycare in Indianapolis and stays there during the week.  Between the two, this left my home quite empty. 

I was careful not to mention it -- I've read one too many thrillers and I was sure some menacing person would read it and dismember me, stuff me in a suitcase (okay, a steamer trunk), bury me in their garage and pour new cement over me.  When I came home Wednesday and my back door was standing wide open I thought someone had found me in spite of my silence.  But it was still sunlight and menacing people don't seem quite so, well, menacing in the daytime.  I just looked through my closets and under my bed and felt quite certain the only threatening thing was a dust ball or two and a few portentous spiders  staking their claim.

I did grab all four grandchildren for a night which livened the house and spent another evening with Melanie. But I still counted the days until Friday when all would return to normal in the Kuhn home.  On Thursday RB texted me and asked me to pray; he was just so weary and still had a day and a half of presentations and classes. In my reply I suggested that he stay over Friday night and get some sleep before he started home.  I loved his reply: "No, no, no!  I will take cat naps."

Catching up:
We've found him on the sofa, in the bed and chair.

My heart filled with his response.  He wanted to be home!  Just where I wanted him to be.  Thursday was a long day -- seemed Friday would never come.  Then Friday, I waited for his call, knowing he couldn't leave until noon.  His first call indicated the GPS showed he would arrive at 9:37, but I knew he'd have to eat and stop for the nap snippets.  We kept in touch by phone -- I even woke him during one of the cat naps.  Finally he had made his final pit stop -- he was headed straight for home.  11:37 was the new arrival time.  Emily and I heard the car pull in and we both breathed praise for his safety.  He was home!

Over and over today I've been thinking about home...my heavenly home.  I received a prayer chain message about a dear lady who is close to heaven.  I remember the times she told us, "I may as well just go home."  Like Paul, our friend knew "that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we'll never have to relocate our "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it! We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less" (2 Corinthians 1:1-5).

How I feel to have RB safely home.

Our family homecoming this weekend was sweet -- even though Emily beat me to the first kiss.  Today I looked at the three of us sitting together and smiled.  All was right in my world.  But just think of our arrival in Heaven -- the home Jesus is preparing for us -- the home we carry a bit of in our hearts.  The home of our Heavenly Father...

But just think of stepping on shore--

                                 And finding it Heaven!

Of touching a hand -- And finding it God's!
Of breathing new air -- and finding it celestial!

Of waking up in glory -- And finding it home!

                                                    ~L. E. Singer

As I was writing these final words, another song started it's melody in my heart. (Can you tell I'm married to a musician?)  This is my response to the desire for my Heavenly home.

But until then, my heart will go on singing,

Until then, with joy I'll carry on.

Until the day, my eyes behold that city.

Until the day God calls me home.

                                                   ~Stuart Hamblin

* * * * *

Welcome Home Snack Mix

 

What do you do to welcome someone you love home?  Are the candles lit, fresh flowers sitting in a vase and maybe a snack ready to eat?  Our family is all about the crunchy and this satisfies the need to crunch.

4 cups frosted flakes cereal
4 cups sweetened puffed corn cereal
2 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cereals in large bowl. Melt 2 T. butter in jelly roll pan. In large saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, 1/4 cup butter and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over cereals and mix well. Place in buttered jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

 

Cool hot mixture for 10 minutes, remove from pan and stir in dried cherries. Place on waxed
paper to cool.

I had enough left over to share. I filled the jar then added the bow. It was a wide ribbon but had a silver edging that I didn't like for this project. I jaggedly cut it off and tied it around the jar. Added the flower and punched a tag (added an initial to it to personalize) and attached it with a paper clip.

What's your favorite "Welcome Home" food?

This post is linked to:
Soli Deo Gloria

Spiritual Sundays

Just Something I Whipped Up

Savory Sunday

Welcome to the Weekend