Still being blessed by surprise military homecoming videos! The surprise, the joy, the relief and the reunification of families and loved ones! Really speaks to me about our reunion in the air, but on even a more glorious scale! We who are warriors for Christ and often in the trenches of life lifting the banner of His love will also enjoy our day of rest and reap rewards! Add to this priceless moments, general reunions and random acts of kindness also enhance the feeling that we will all have something wonderful to look forward to! TR You know TR, I was a part of those homecomings all of my childhood and about a half of my adulthood. When my dad was coming home from a 6 month (or longer during Vietnam) deployment, we would get all dressed up and have our welcome home sign or banner, we would go down to the Navy dock in San Diego and watch as the ship pulled in, the band was there playing, it was a great time, then my dad would come down the gangway and we always were so excited, hugs and kisses and on our way home, when they flew the squadron back to GA or Key West from the ships, we would meet him at the base airport (same thing). When my husband flew his missions, he would be gone for 6 months and once again, we would get dressed up, the kids all clean and excited, this time we headed to the base airport and watch as the entire squadron landed, we would see him exit the plane as an entire crew and we would run to meet him, hugs and kisses all around and on our way home. When my son came back from his first trip to the sandbox, we were there to see him land, his wife and kids went first but it is the same …. I will still get emotional when I see the returns, sometimes it’s for the ones that I know did not return, other times its for the joy of those families and seeing the separation come to an end. The flip side of that is when we would drop my dad off, it was tears and sorrow for a few days until life took over. When my husband would leave, we would take him to the base and the tears would come but I always took the kids out for breakfast afterward and we talked it out and the plans that we had to make the time go by. When we were stationed in HI, he was gone two Christmas’s in a row and that was hard on the kids. Being Mom and Dad and then giving the Dad reigns back up is an interesting challenge as well. Military life is hard to explain to folks who do not live it. Among “normal” life, you have many challenges that come to being in a foreign country or far away from family. I very much depended on my church family during these times as an adult. I have many fond memories of those reunions, but I will tell you in my lowly opinion, the home coming we are ready for as the Bride of Christ will far outweigh the joy of those earthly reunions and it will be the last one we have to have for eternity. :yahoo: May it happen today! :prayer-hands: Absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder! So it is with us and Christ! How marvelous is a brides heart, and so it is with us! For He has captured ours! TR
