off to houston

kath, isaac and i dropped geoff in cincinnati this morning for his non-stop flight to houston.  this is a long-awaited moment.  geoff will get to texas and spend one evening there with our dear friends the gladdings.  tonight, sean, rebecca, maggie and seth will say farewell to their community of faith, mercy street, as they prepare for an epic shift to kentucky.

in the morning, geoff and sean will depart from houston and spend two days traveling north together in a super long moving van (originally they would have been separated into two separate vehicles but the gladdings have consolidated all their belongings, giving much away, and now geoff and sean will have an abundance of time together in the cab of a truck).  after a sleep in memphis (and to geoff's chagrin, not anywhere near graceland) they will turn up in lexington on monday evening and unpack the life and things of the gladding family.  sean will fly home for a few last days and the trip north will be repeated again with the family in the car with their final, final destination of lexington at the first of august.

seven years is a long-time.  the gladdings have lived, worked and given of themselves to the fullest in houston.  after seminary and their move south years ago, we never got use to living without them.  the tale of their return is filled with prayers, deliberations, lengthy conversations, dreaming, planning, and lots more prayers.  while there is great loss in the big state of texas, a tiny part of the bluegrass will be ignited by the joy of many of us here next week. we receive the rare gift of reunion and the kind of restoration the imagination kindles for a time when the kingdom is known in its fullness.  we, by grace, patience and a lot of hope, get that now and we breath deeply.