Until we meet again...

I don’t think I’ve ever had a more stressfully sad trip to the airport, though the time when Mum and Dad forgot their passports would come close. It was May the 10^th, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

Our bus was full of the shirelings (as we’ve taken to calling ourselves) George, Aiden, Benjamin, Tamara, Megumi, Ruth, Covenant, Janet, and myself. We were late in leaving home (what else is new) and though we had a lovely ride for most of the way, talking, playing the ‘I’m going to a party’ game, singing psalms, praying, and reading New Morning Mercies together. It was lovely. But in the last 10km or so, we hit traffic, the sign said 36minutes to Tullamarine, and we prayed that we would make it on time. We started coming up with what skills everyone in the car would be able to use to help Tamara make her flight. Aiden would plea with his lawyer skills, Ruth would save someone’s life with her paramedic skills, George would call out ‘Everybody move!’ so the way would be clear and Tamara would make her flight. So we made the game plan, who would grab what bags, and everyone would usher Tamara to the counter while I went to park the van. The time was getting close, and it was 7:45 when we pulled up to the doors (exactly 90 minutes from when her flight was scheduled to leave) – I dropped them at the door and went to find a place to park. The only problem is…the height of the bus. It’s too tall to fit in the undercover parking area except for one place – which has 2 regular spots and about 20 disabled spots. The other place it can fit is the outdoor carpark place. So I drive around and around the outdoor place, hoping for someone to come move their car so I can take their spot. I drive in and out of the carpark, wondering if I should just park in the disabled parking and plead my case later. I try ringing the Melbourne Airport Parking Assistance phone line, only to be told the first time that their opening hours are 8am – 5pm. It’s 7:58. I ring again and again and again and again, each time making it so far as to get hold music for 10 seconds before they tell me that all their operators are busy and use the email page on the webpage. I just want to talk to someone, to ask if I can please park in the disabled parking just this one time. Meanwhile, time is ticking, and I know Tamara will have to go through the magical doors any minute now. All I can think is ‘I need someone else in the car to keep trying the phone line, or to use the webpage so I can keep driving around to find a park’. I pray that God would help me find parking, and I’m wondering If I’m going to miss seeing Tamara, I hadn’t even given her a hug. My last words when she got out of the car were “don’t you dare go through the doors before I say goodbye”.

I get out of my car 3 times to ask someone if I can have their parking spot, once a man said yes, but another car got to it before I did. A second time just as someone was pulling it I pleaded with a man to let me have the spot he just pulled into, pleaded with tears in my eyes “I don’t fit in the regular parking, and I need to say goodbye to my sister.” His reply ‘sorry but I need to park here’. The next time it’s a car full of Chinese people, I speak to them and they drive into the spot, not even acknowledging my presence, and all I can think is, “I need Aiden to translate for me” and his lawyer skills would probably have been helpful with the other man too. At this point I lose all hope, and I can’t stop the tears.

Aiden rings and asks if I’m coming soon because she has to go through soon. It’s almost funny because I can’t say anything more than “I can’t…” a few times because of my tears, when I finally get out “I can’t park, I’m too tall…” Ruth offers to come trade with me. She gives Tamara one last hug and runs to find me in the car. Firstly accidentally running the wrong way, then she rings me and runs while on the phone, with me trying to tell her where to go. I know that I need to get something besides my phone to bring to Tamara, but I can’t think what it is. I see Ruth running towards me, and I tell her, I’m leaving the keys in the car, and leaving it here (in the middle of the carpark, unparked) I hang up to Ruth and run, slippers and all to the gate to find them. I try to ring Tamara and Benjamin as I run through the airport, but they don’t answer. Thankfully it’s a place I know well, and I know how to get to the magical doors, the ones that lead to America. I’m running hard when I see George in his minion onesie and there’s Tamara, she hasn’t gone through, and I cry a tear of relief, I’ll get to hug her one last time. And I remember that I left the note that I had written for her in the car. That’s what I forgot, but it’s okay because I get to say goodbye.

So we do, we hug, we say kind words to each other, I tell her that I love her and will miss her. And I am happy for her, but sad for us. And we say goodbye. And then she walks away, through the magical doors that lead to America. And I don’t really know what to think or feel.

I told Tamara in her letter that Stephen is a really great guy, and marriage is a really great thing. Which is why it feels a bit like Page CXVI’s version of the song Joy  I told her that I am so happy for her, but sad for the whole country of Australia. And I know that her version of the song probably sounds more that the Cole family singing it than Page CXVI, and that’s okay because she’s going to the great guy and that good thing, so I’ll keep trying to remember that when I’m sad and missing her. But feeling this way also makes me think about something else.

It’s goodbyes, it’s the sadness of living in a world where separation is a real thing, that make me long so much for Heaven. Alastair preached just last Lord’s Day from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and though it is talking about Christians not grieving like others without hope in the face of death it also made me think about it in the context of saying goodbye. We do have a hope that is sure and steadfast, an anchor for the soul. We do have the joy of knowing that Heaven will be an eternity with the Lord, we will be with Him FOREVER. And we will be in a place with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ where we won’t have to say goodbye. A place where all sorrow and sighing will pass away. I think that any time we say goodbye, any time countries separate us, anytime that we have sorrow and sadness in this life, we get that reminder that we are longing for a better country, a heavenly country, a place that God is preparing for us. It puts eternity in my heart, and that makes the goodbye less hard. It makes the grieving not without hope. 

Four thousand and eighteen days

A few days ago, January 28th came and went. For many, it was just an ordinary day, not unlike other January 28th's in years past. It was a day that went by without mention to any (even in our family) but it was a day of great significance in the lives of the Ed Blackwood Family. January 28th 2017 marked a day when one member of our Family had officially lived more of his life in Australia than in America.

On January 26th, 2006, just one day shy of his 11th birthday, Benjamin moved half-way around the world from Indianapolis Indiana to Frankston Australia. (actually skipping his 11th birthday on the flight to Australia) And the total number of days lived in America were 4017 (10 years, 364 days).

On January 28th, 2006, one day after his 11th birthday, Benjamin officially began his time of living in Australia. And on January 28th this year, the count of days lived in Australia was 4018 (11 years to the day)

Some of you might be thinking who cares about a thing like how many days you've lived in a country. Well, in answer, I do. If you'd asked me in January of 2006 how long I'd be living in Australia. My answer would have been "2 years, that's all, then I'll be back and live in America again" - it didn't take very long for my answer of "Where do you consider Home to be?" to change from "America" to "Australia". And there are times that I think Australia is so much home, that America seems like this foreign country that I happen to have a connection to. There have been days when I miss America so much my heart aches, and there have been other days when I wish I could just turn everything about myself Australian. But most of the time, I'm thankful that I'm an Australican and all the things that that entails. Thankful because having 2 places that at different times I have called home reminds me that this earth is not our home ultimately. In the bible, Hebrews 11 talks about the so called 'Heros of the Faith' - those men and women who had great faith in God, showing that they believed His promises, things hoped for and not seen. verses 13 and following say,

"These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a great distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." 

Having lived in 2 countries does give me an even greater longing for Heaven, the true homeland for all those who are trusting in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. So, even as we know that this is not our ultimate home, when January 28th came and went, it got me thinking, and wondering, where will I be living on the 19th November 2020? Will it mark the day that I've lived 5410 days in Australia, compared to the 5409 that I lived in America? Only time will tell.