vicki's off to colour

wow. i did something today that i don't ever wanna do again. i drove my family down to the new orleans airport and dropped my wife and the mother of my five kids off so that she could hop on a plane and go to l.a. then on to sydney. by herself. one of the hardest things i've had to do in a while. i think it was harder, too, because it caught me off guard. i've been encouraging vicki to go - to enjoy the time - to take it all in... but when it got down to the moment of seeing her walk out of view into the airport...

i texted her a few minutes later and told her "i just sat back down in the car, couldn't breathe, couldn't talk, kids asking me a million qpm (questions per minute) and i couldn't muster any words." it wasn't a frog in my throat. it was a fully-grown hippo jammed in there where i couldn't swallow.

but.... we will make it. we'll be better for it. i'm actually looking forward to the time with the kids.

but dang it, it'd sure be nicer to have made it all happen with her around rather than having to deal with her being gone. she alwasy tells me when i go out of town that it's harder for the one being left at home. i agree today. (she did bring that up today, but she said at least today she's wondering if it's true or not.)

pray for her if you get a chance. pray that she connects with everyone God has prepared for her to connect with and that all that God has in store to show her and do through her is done - completely - during this experience.

it's obvious that i'll be needing your prayers, too.