Tomorrow is the day . . . the day I have been anticipating yet dreading. Tomorrow morning I will wake up just as I always do, get dressed, make coffee, spend time in the Word, talk to my Father, and eat breakfast. But it will not be an ordinary day, because it will mark an ending, the end of a 65-year-old story. You see, for the past year and a little more, Art and I have been living most of the time in my childhood home, a home that my parents bought new in 1953. And tomorrow I will leave it forever.

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“I don’t think Madalynne will be coming back with you.” Those were the words of our dear visiting nurse, as I told her that we would be leaving Michigan for the winter and coming back in April. Her prediction turned out to be true.

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It’s been a while since I updated this blog, and our lives continue to change. But Our Father walks behind and before us, and knows each bend in the road.

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Madalynne loved the big ten-foot-wide picture window that dominated the living room of the house where she had lived most of her life. Looking out now on the tidy row of post-war ranch homes that had changed little over the years since 1953 when they were built, it seemed hard to believe that she was really here.

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Welcome, all wonders in one night! Eternity shut in a span!

Summer in Winter! Day in Night! Heaven in Earth and God in Man!

Great little one whose all-embracing birth

Lifts Earth to Heaven, Stoops Heaven to Earth! – Richard Crenshaw

God has truly blessed us this year—a busy but very special year. . .

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One thing is certain about life, there's always change that will come. No one except the Lord knows what one day will hold from another. 

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“Is anybody listening? I’m very concerned …”

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One of the greatest announcements made to mankind was "Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

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It hardly seems possible that another year has gone by. This brings us to almost three full years since retirement when our new adventures began.

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The native culture called Toccoa Falls “the beautiful.” It is located on the campus of Toccoa Falls College, our alma mater, where we lived early in our marriage, in a mobile home park on the college grounds. After three wonderful years, in 1975, we both graduated from the college.

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There have been those individuals who have asked us, when they hear about our van-trek, "What do you do when it rains?” I’d like to give an answer to that question for those who haven’t yet had it answered.

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In our travels, we have found that the vast majority of the people we have met, including police officers, are pleasant, polite, interesting and helpful. For example, just now, as I was writing this, sitting in a lovely pavilion overlooking a lighthouse on Lake Michigan, a man and his dog “Rosie” stopped by to chat, while out for their morning walk. But in St. Louis, we met one person who was none of the above, and his actions have wounded, but not defeated us.

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The Joyces have landed! Well, temporarily at least. After 21 months away from our house, we are now spending some time at home, which feels good. It seems very luxurious to have running water—HOT running water, an electric stove with four burners, a refrigerator that actually keeps things from spoiling, and central heat and air! We are living in the lap of luxury!

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Looking out my much-loved wall of family room windows, I see that most of the leaves are on the ground now. When we got home a week ago, there was still a lot of fall color, but it’s November. Soon winter will be here—we had a preview this week! I enjoy this view every day that I am home, no matter what the season or weather. Vivid fall color, crisp winter snows, budding spring greens, and even rainy, foggy days are highlights. But every day has its own beauty, even “in between” days like today.

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We are now back in our home once again. It’s been about 21 months since we first started our Van Trek around the nation following my retirement. We haven’t been traveling every day of those 21 months, but we felt that it was time for us to take a little break and tend to our house for a while.

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