only one benefit

Okay, maybe there are two.

When Rod leaves for an overnight trip, I never like it. The ONLY benefit that I can think of is that I do get things done in the evening. Things that tend to get put on the back burner until I get a chance to work on them. Things that really need an “empty” house, as in kid-in-bed kind of house. When he is gone, I go through my list of ever increasing little things that I want to do around the house -- go through my scrap book pile and purge stuff I have not used, hmmmmm, I guess that reminds me, too, that I should actually get some scrap booking done; go through a drawer that has needed some attention, but I have not felt like dealing with it; get papers off my desk that have sat there for weeks (that is a big one!). Those kinds of things.

The other benefit I can see, is that it gets Rod out of the office and into the air -- where he truly belongs. When he has an overnighter, he may actually get more downtime -- if that makes any sense. He gets a bit more rest, at least on the actual night out, since he is not flying back to Wilson. He is not so overloaded with such a full schedule of waking at 4.45am, and not getting back to the house until 8.30pm at night. And, then some times, just to wake up the next morning to do it all over again, or other days to go back into the office.

So, even though I really do not like him being gone, it is good for both of us. Cristiana has simply known, all of her life actually, that Daddy goes to fly his airplane and then he comes back. (And, every airplane in the sky is Daddy’s, regardless!) We have a routine every time before he leaves, where he sits with her and tells her that he is going and will not be back for a few days. She is so used to it, that it is simply not a big deal (unless he is gone for a long week, where she tends to act out in some ways, but that is the exception so far).

We do praise the Lord for His continued safety and protection over Rod, and the rest of the AIM AIR crew, as they fly throughout the routine but sometimes dangerous and unknown areas of Africa.

And, right now we would not trade our lives for anything. We are truly home . . . and thankful for that!