Well, we arrived home this past week. I can’t even begin to say how good the word home really is. Not only does it taste good as I roll it around my mouth, it feels like the warmth and comfort of my morning coffee. Mmmm, home. Arriving home after six weeks is also a bit disorienting – it is a reminder about my own limits and my humanness. No transition is as quick as I’d like. Acclimation, even to the best of things is not instant. Even the little changes defy my furious attempts at ruling time, ruling myself, and my circumstances.
We had a great time visiting family in Oregon over the past six weeks (my other use of the word home). However, “civilization” is always a shock to my system. The food (we ate out a lot) is the most enjoyable bad experience I’ve had in years. I love it, and it hates me. Last night Carrie and I hosted a gathering of my old friends from Seminary (11 adults, 7 kids) – we ate homemade pasta (both sauce and noodle), salad, and homemade ice-cream, with… you guessed homemade bread. Mmmm, home.
We also saw tons of movies, since Bowen essentially excludes that. It was a media binge. True Grit, Tron, The Fighter… all very enjoyable (and not even a drop in the bucket), but it also made me thankful for our quite evenings of reading by the fire, or having the neighbors over to play spades. Unfortunately we lost this week, due to my error. But next week the Scheibes are going down!
After this weekend, Carrie and I will be preparing to go to the annual L’abri conference in Rochester Minnesota. We leave on February 10th, and term starts the day after we return. So, our long winters nap is coming to an end, and we are beginning to get back in the swing of our lives. It is great to see family and friends, and we wished that they were not so far away, but we are reminded of the joy (and hardship) of our labors here at L’abri. We should have a pretty full term coming up. I believe the numbers are at about 11 right now (15 is our cap these days). We look forward to who God is bringing here, and all that means.
I say it all the time, but I am affirming it again – I will try to give more regular updates on how things are going. that is enough for now, as I need to get breakfast going for our guests.
With love and thanks to all who put up with us for so long, and helped make home away from home
Jeff Adams
Cedar House
Bishops Hill
Canadian L’abri
