My phone rings this morning.
Your goats are out, he says after I answer, and I panic for just a minute. How will I get them back in? What if they are on the road? What if I can’t find them all?
I gather the two boys who are home (my husband and one of my sons are away on a hunting trip), and I tell them I need their help.
They throw on their warm clothes and head outside, and I say I’ll be out in a minute. ‘Cause I’m still in my jammies, you know.
I’m fretting the entire time I’m getting ready. I can hear the wind; it’s been moaning in the trees since last night. I’m pretty sure the wind is the culprit. It probably blew open a gate in the night.
I walk out the door and burst out laughing. The boys are standing by the barn, shaking a pail of something. Tyson’s calling, come on girls, and the girls are racing each other to get through the open gate and back into the pasture. I walk across the drive to close the gate and we’re done.
I’m thinking as I walk back inside that this is my lesson of the day.
I want my kids to head out though the open gate. I pray for them to have adventures. I pray their stories will be full of love and joy and enough risk-taking to make it all interesting and meaningful. But, I pray that home will go with them in their hears, warming their journeys and helping them as they establish new homes of their own.
I trust they will know that this home, that their dad and I, will always be ready to welcome them back.
And that their dad and I will, for as long as we can, be always ready with open arms, with love, and with a bucket of treats.
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If you would like to read all the posts in the 31 days to loving my home series, click on the tab at the top of the page. Hope you enjoy it!
October 17, 2012 at 11:00 am
Three of my children now have homes and lives of there own and the fourth she is at university but if you asked them where home is they would say with Mum.
October 17, 2012 at 11:07 am
I still have that feeling when I walk into my own mom’s house. The comfort of the familiar foods and such. Turns back time, I guess.
October 17, 2012 at 11:43 pm
At least i phone my Mother and tell i am coming and when, mine just turn up π
October 17, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Clever boys π your lesson and drama for the day! I am sure your boys will know. How could they not.
October 20, 2012 at 11:14 am
Smarter than their mom!
October 17, 2012 at 12:43 pm
I love the analogy and the connection. I also laughed at the simple solution your boys had at retrieving the goats… it was so cool. π
October 20, 2012 at 11:15 am
Isn’t it usually that way? The simplest solution is the best. But thinking of the simple solution is hard if you’re panicking! π
October 17, 2012 at 2:21 pm
They will always know your arms are wide open to welcome them back Janelle…always.
October 20, 2012 at 11:16 am
I know π I just know how much I’ll miss them, even as I’m cheering them on.
October 17, 2012 at 7:44 pm
I am loving these posts. I want to come and camp out on your porch… just to hang out with your family. This is such a warmly humorous post, our hearts (and stomachs) always lead us through the gate to that haven called home. Yours is a safe haven for both the goats and the boys. Our neighbor in CA had goats, we loved living beside them… this brought back memories of that time also. Thanks! DAF
October 18, 2012 at 8:19 pm
If you came, we’d invite you inside!
October 18, 2012 at 8:35 pm
you are very sweet.