Far Away

I have often thought I would write about my children in this blog even though the blog itself is designed for sharing our semi-retirement stories. This morning while pondering this again I realized writing about my children IS part of our story. You see, they all live far away from our home in northeast Indiana. Our two oldest sons and their families live 2,000 miles away in the L.A. area while our youngest son and his new bride live 120 miles away in the city of Indianapolis. The latter is not far in comparison to our California families yet far enough with conflicting schedules to get together as often as we'd like.

I think it important to note here that I long dreamed of always living in the same community as my children. I pictured them going off to college and returning to live nearby raising their families with Nana and Grampa available to help out when needed. However, one by one they migrated away and the dream greatly changed as we became part of the new generation of parents and grandparents who parent/grandparent long distance.

Here's where Jeremiah 29:11 comes in big time . . . believing God knows the plans He has for us; plans for good, and not for evil; plans to give us a hope and a future and to prosper us. It's in the everyday days, the special days, the long days, the celebratory days, the lonely days, the days I am separated from my loved ones that I turn to this Scripture and find comfort. What more could a mother want than for her children and their children to be happy, healthy, and content where they live and work? Maybe just one thing . . . that they weren't so far away.