Today I returned from my South East Asia vision trip with International Justice Mission (IJM) at 12:00pm at Dulles Airport. I am definitely feeling the jetlag, but I am so glad to be back home. In my job I do not travel as much, but for me being gone even more than a day is too long. I just love being home with my girls. My last flight today was 14 hours from Seoul. All I could think about was seeing my girls: Pam (wife), Hannah (12), Sydney (9), and Lexie (7). I was so excited to see them, and I was anxious to see their response to my return.
As I walked through the upper level of Dulles, I saw them before they saw me. Pam saw me first and told the girls I was there. All three looked up trying to focus on where I was. One by one they caught my eyes, and at once all three of my daughters ran to me. It was probably only a 30 yard dash, but it made my day to be tackled by all three girls. You may think this is not that unusual of an occurance, but to see my 12 year old, going into 7th grade daughter show excitement in running to dad might help you understand more.
I often wonder how long will they keep running to me? What do I need to do to let them know I love them so much and that will be running to them too. I hope they know, they melted old dad’s heart today. If leaving from time to time uncovers this kind of unhibited joy, I cannot wait until my next trip.
Glad to be home!
Just checking in to see how your travels were going. I’m not “one of the three”, but wanted to let you know we too are glad to have you safely home.
Hope you get a chance to catch up on some sleep, and can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Pastor Todd,
So thankful that you had a safe trip.
We have missed you while you were away!
Welcome home Pastor Todd – we missed you. We’re thankful your travels were safe and rewarding. I am glad you were greeted with such joy – parents deserve that feeling.
Just imagine the day when we are able to see the face of God – we will all be running to our heavenly Father!
Isn’t sleep overrated? Please, just one tiny little trip story???
Thank you for sharing that precious greeting from your girls!! I know that they will continue to run to you, as you and Pam are obviously very committed parents!!
Wow! What a feeling, to have the girls run to you when they see you! (Don’t be surprised if the some of the members of your congregation does that this Sunday!
We all missed you very much.
Your comments reminded me of Reg and me picking up Courtney from Dulles just yesterday morning…from her trip to China. She “ran” to us! It does feel great, doesn’t it?
Our family really love attending and working in The Mount; we may not blog you much but just as an example, Courtney mentioned that she had two opportunities to witness to students that were unbelievers……she depends on her Bible and the fact that her grass roots of knowledge that she has to share is from The Mount!
Thank you for leading by example! See you soon!