Go Home! Go Home!

A while ago The Mr. and I went to a church social. A western-themed church social. (And let me just preface this by saying that The Mr. was so excited to have an excuse to wear his cowboy boots.) Anyway..... after the barbecued beef-on-a-bun and the steer roping demonstration, we were told to form a big circle for square dancing. This is the part I was especially looking forward to.

The professional square dance caller was especially good at his job, and quickly had us learning a few basic tricks. We knew who our partner was, who our corner was, who the side couple was, who the head couple was, and most importantly, where "home" position was. We could soon do-si-do, allemande left and promenade with the best of them.

We apparently surprised the caller with how quickly we had caught on, so he decided to teach us some more advanced steps. He warned us that things might get confusing, but comforted us with this great advice: "Remember where your home position is, because no matter how crazy and mixed up you get, you can always go 'home' until you get your bearings, and then you can start up again when you feel ready."

After a few minutes of success, our little group of eight started falling a little behind and getting tangled. We knew we were in trouble, until one of the ladies in our group yelled, "Go home! Go home!" We all promenaded back home and waited until we were ready to join in again.

I've been thinking about this and how true it really is. When life gets crazy and a little too hectic and confusing, it's so nice to be able to go home and regroup until we feel confident enough to take on life's challenges again. (Of course that only works if our homes are places of peace and happiness.)

Moving on to a different story, but with a related theme, I've noticed how my 86-year-old mother is also longing to go "home" as things here on earth are getting pretty tough for her. As her body weakens with age and leukemia, it's interesting to observe that the things she's concerned about, all have to do with going home to be with loved ones again.

I think I've always known it, but between square dancing and spending time with my mom, I'm realizing just how important home really is. I'm recommitting to placing more emphasis on both of these homes.

Dixie