California dreamin'...

Crazy vacations. Had to come home to get some rest. Went to a wedding (my excuse for the trip.) Went to the beautiful central coast of California (my REAL reason for going. OK, not really.) Been back for a while. I keep trying to blog, but something always comes up. It's not like anyone reads this, anyway. A few factoids, tidbits, and observations from my trip.

• Had my first opportunity to attend a Catholic wedding. My sister in law converted to marry into an extremely devout Catholic family. Stand up, sit down , stand up, etc. Frustrated by our lack of knowledge, the Monsignor's assistant (or whatever she was) took to finally signaling us when it was time to stand. I felt like a total outsider. Makes me wonder if we don't do the same thing to visitors at our worship services. Without the ornate robes, of course.
  

• Had to look for a last minute wedding card to go with our present. Did you ever notice how wedding cards are just overflowing with optimism that the couple will love each other for life? I have yet to see a "Hope you are Happy (while you still can stand each other)" card, or a card with a write in expiration date, such as, "May the ___ Years You Spend Together Be Blissful." Maybe Hallmark (and everyone else) really knows deep down inside how God intended marriage to be. After all, the longest sentence in the English language is still, "I Do."
  

• California. Interstate 5. Speed Limit: 75 MPH. Yeah, baby.

• Speaking of California highways, they are the only place I've been in the country that you can be doing 5 - 10 MPH over the speed limit and have a highway patrol car fly past you 10 MPH faster.
  

• Got to go to California's Central Coast for part of a day (did I already say that?). Fresno is about 3 hours from the coast. It was worth the time. We almost didn't go. Something about spending time with family we hadn't seen and other such shortsighted thinking. We are talking about the ocean, people. There is no ocean near St. Louis, and rivers DON'T count. Enough said. We went.
  

• Went about a week without consistent internet access. No WAJ discussion board. No Drudge Report. Mostly checked email on my phone. Amazing what we can live without when we have to. But I'm back and I don't have to.

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Good to be back home, although I grew up in California, and even though I was "going back home", it didn't feel like home. However, it did feel very familiar, like home away from home, which was a challenge when I got back home. Home didn't feel like home because I had been home, but not home, really.

Of course, we won't really ever be home until this world that we think is the real deal gives way to the real thing. Being in the presence of Jesus Christ without the frustrating hindrance of human flesh that so often holds us back.

It sounds like Heaven to me. It sounds cliche, but that's when I'll be home.