Left Behind: A prayer

Tell me when the time we had slipped away. .

Lord, I feel so bad for everyone back home. As Chelsea(my roommate)'s father said, when someone leaves, it is the people you leave behind that feel it the most. I have been so busy with gymnastics, boys, and friends that I have hardly even thought to call my family.

But I do feel sad sometimes:

I felt it when I was leaving, driving out of Faulk county, watching familiar scenes fade away. When I was spending my last Sunday, afraid to find my uncle because of the tears I knew I could not control, fighting tears when I talked to Leanne(one of my best girlfriends), struggling to keep my emotions in check when I looked at Bob(my now-ex boyfriend)’s moist eyes.

I felt it when tears moistened my mothers eyes, when my father's confidant voice exuded deep concern and care, when my sisters hugged me goodbye with tears steaming down their face.

I feel it when I miss one of their soccer games, and I realize I never taught them to use the camera. I feel it when they have to ride their bikes home from school because I am not there to drive them. I feel it when my mother hurts her ankle, when my brother may have a serious heart condition. I feel it when my dog is limping, and I’m not there.

I feel it when I know my grandmother may not be alive when I return. I feel it when my grandfather is diagnosed with fatal cancer. I feel it when my family can barely make it home with the gas they have because they spent the money buying supplies for my room.

But most of all, I feel it when I realize I have been to busy to notice, to busy to care about those who care about me the most.

~AB

"I thank my God every time I remember you" Philippians 1:3-11