Weep a Little...

This is an old post from my Yahoo!360 blog.  It's from sometime in 2006. 
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Yesterday while sitting in the car in front of  Petrolina’s shopping mall - River Shopping, I saw a fellow standing in front of the entrance that looked remarkably like my brother Wesley.  He didn’t have a beard, he looked like Wesley did a few years back.  I was guarding the six packs of  2 liters drinks lashed on the top of our car for a retreat,  Byron  had gone back in to get one more item. The more I watched this fellow from where I was sitting, the more I thought about how it couldn't be Wesley, could it?   I thought about all the time that has passed by since I’ve last seen my brother.  He got married just days before we came back from our last furlough.  He has three sons now - three little nephews that I’ve never seen except in pictures.  I cried a little thinking about him and his boys wondering when I would ever get to see them.

Later in the day a friend told me about her mother who had gone back to the hospital. She’s been in and out of the hospital and rehab for several months now.  Her dad’s had some health problems, too, at the same time.  She’s far away.  Who’s helping her mother?  Yes, there are other family members, but it’s not the same as being close and seeing to things yourself when loved ones are concerned.

I know, it’s that great sacrifice of being a missionary on a foreign field.  I’ve heard it all, people in the States often live too far away from family to help, and so missionaries aren’t so different.  Or, what could you do any different if you were there, you’d be working and taking care of your own family.  Or, don’t you trust God enough to take care of them?  I’ve heard the whole list.  But let me have my tears for today.  Tears of hope for the day I will see them, those little precious boys, and hold them in my arms.  Tears for the day I’ll love them and squeeze them and kiss them.  Tears for the day I can fuss at my brother in person just like old times and taste the good cooking I hear my sister-in-law can whip up.  

 Just a few little tears…

Tears in my eye on this day, too, but God wipes them away.

I'm not crying today.  It seems that quite often I notice someone walking down the street or on a bus, and think to myself, That looks just like so-and-so.  Tonight I'm just resting in the Lord as some of my family are far from home tonight.  Thanking God for my blessings and looking forward to future family reunions.