I'm Back!

It’s been nearly five weeks since leaving my home in Colorado to care for Mom after surgery. But last night, I arrived home.

I’m back with my husband and kids. I’m back in my own home. I'm back within view of the mountains. I’m back at my desk. I’m back.

I missed Mom last night. I wondered how she was doing. I prayed she would stay safe. I missed laughing with her. I missed her.

I thought of the people in the Bible who also left their homes to live someplace else temporarily. People like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, and Jesus to name a few.

But I want to chat about Jacob. He had been deceitful his whole life. To his brother Esau and his father Isaac. And the final straw within the family dynamics was Jacob’s deception to his father to gain his brothers blessing. Esau was angry and Rebekah feared for Jacob’s life.

Jacob left to live with relatives. But his goal was to find a suitable wife. And he did. But Jacob was then deceived by his uncle. In the end, Jacob has two wives. He loved one and tolerated the other.

Years pass. Children are born. Jacob’s flocks increase. Laban becomes jealous of Jacob’s wealth. Jacob heads home.

Unsure of what the encounter with his brother might be, Jacob sends gifts ahead to ease the reunion. But Esau didn’t want the gifts; he wanted his brother back home where he belonged.

God visited with Jacob along his journey. In a dream…the Jacob’s ladder dream where God promises Jacob the land he slept upon and that his descendants would be “like the dust of the earth.” In another dream God told Jacob to go back to his native land. Angels of God met Jacob along the way to reassure him. Jacob wrestled with God all night long and in the end received a new name. God told Jacob on another occasion to go to Bethel and build an altar there.

Yes, God was with Jacob on this journey. He led Jacob, He encouraged Jacob, and He assured Jacob of His presence.

When Jacob died, “he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.” Jacob joined those who had gone before him. Those who had been faithful to God and His instruction. His father and his grandfather.

(For more information about Jacob, his family, and his life, his story can be read in Genesis 25-49.)

God is with us on our journeys in life as well. He is there to lead us, to encourage us, and to assure us of His presence. With eyes wide open, we can seek and find Him.

Yes, I’m back. It’s good to be here. But memories of Ohio linger and sometimes I’m saddened that I live so far away. I trust that God will gently guide me through this transition. Just as He always has.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna