Two nights ago, my oldest son headed back to college. We all said our good-byes out in the driveway - first me, then my husband, then my youngest son. I stood by the back door watching them hug and say private words to one another. They clung together for a moment and I was so moved by their love for each other that I whispered "thank you God" over and over. I am truly blessed with a loving family and I couldn't have asked for a better gift.

This morning, my scripture reading was in Exodus and as I read about Moses and Aaron, I connected their story with my boys. Two brothers, alike and different in many ways. Clinging to one another, Moses and Aaron used their own unique strengths to deliver God's messages to Pharaoh. Moses was worried about his ability to speak, so Aaron stepped up for the assist. Both Moses and Aaron wield the staff to create the plagues that visited Egypt. They did it together, standing by one another.

Of course the lesson of Moses and Aaron breaks down when they get into the desert and Moses goes up on the mountain to receive the 10 commandments. But maybe the story there is that they were separate - that without Moses, Aaron was subject to the temptation that caused so much pain and angered God.

Brothers have an intricate relationship and the one between Moses and Aaron was certainly unique. What I pray for my sons is that they also find that unique place where they balance and support one another - and that they are always there to shore up the other's weakest moments.

Rearview Rainbow

Rearview Rainbow
by Kim Deppe

Rainbows in the rearview
I turn back and look
vying with the snarling traffic
rush hour, rain, and routine
the colors glow
first one bright rainbow,
then two.
a double-headed wish for my better evening
God's reminder
of double blessings
despite the hoary traffic.

Cars stop and go
brake lights
compete with the
multi-colored promise
in my rearview.

Going home. Going home.
Uplifting seconds
lost
in Friday rush hour.

Coming Home

Later today, my oldest son will come back home from college for a little while. He'll just be here overnight and then head back tomorrow. As a college junior, he is busy with homework, college activities, sports, and studying.

It made me reflect on the restorative power of going home, and how it feels even now when I step out of the car and into my old neighborhood. Sitting in the living room of family, talking about old times or catching up on friends is an almost magical potion for releasing the worries of life.

This summer, I had the chance to do that while my younger son and I went on the road to visit colleges. We mapped a route that took a short detour to my South Jersey home town, then wound its way to northeastern Ohio where some of my Dad's family lives. It was a joyful time for me and my son. He met people he had only heard about, saw places and ate things that I've described for years.

I was a new woman by the time I got home, refreshed by the outpouring of love and affection from family. I was renewed, restored.

Imagine how much more powerful it will be when we go home to God. We'll get to visit with Jesus, talk about friends and family, and feel the most enormous outpouring of love - beyond anything we can imagine, I'm sure. We will get to renew our bonds of love with family that have gone home before us, and we will bask in the no-worries, you're home feeling of heaven that God's grace has given us. When we go home to God, it will be forever and the busy-ness of our earthly lives will drop away for all time.

Tell me, what do you do to restore yourself? How do you find refreshment here on earth? And what do you look forward to the most when you go Home?

Water for God

Loyola Press has a beautiful daily 3-minute meditation that I've enjoyed for years. Today's reflection was especially meaningful to me as it described our day as a pitcher of water. It asked how much of that water do we set aside for God every day? I realized there are days when I get so busy, I have not given God any of my water. And yet, he is the "water of life" and I cannot exist without that nourishment. If I remember that the water of my body is joined to the spirit of God, and that I cannot live, eat, breathe, or do anything without it, well I would be a better person that's for sure. The Lord poured himself out for all of us. Let's remember to pour our water in God's bucket first.

Check out the meditation and let me know if you like it. Blessings!