The Mother of Expectation

Today is my fiftieth birthday and this was my devotion here in Hawaii, by Henri J.M. Nouwen from the book Mornings with Henri J.M. Nouwen. (Page 14)

     The Mother of expectation is patience. . . Patience comes from the work "patior" which means to suffer.
     Joy and sadness are as close to each other as the splendid colored leaves of a New England fall to the soberness of the barren trees. When you touch the hand of a returning friend, you already know that he will have to leave you again. When you are moved by the quiet vastness of the sun-covered ocean, you miss the friend who cannot see the same. Joy and sadness are born at the same time, both arising from such deep places in our heart that you can't find words to capture your complex emotions.
     But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us. 

My joy today is almost perfect. . . there are only friends and family I'm missing. And on Saturday we will have to leave. Back in 2009 Mary said, "Daddy why don't we live here?" I don't know dear. Minnesota is character building and somehow I think today's devotion has some connection to returning home after every earthly glimpse of heaven. Joy and sadness. Worth every moment of both.