How Priests and Pitchforks are Helping Me Return
A few years ago, I lived in a sweet little cottage in rural America. Every spring, I’d spend hours cleaning up the yard and flower beds. One of the final steps was making the annual pilgrimage to get a load of mulch to spread, bringing both protection to the plants and soil and adding the […]
Back to the Shire
In the busy chatter of the pub, it would be easy to overlook the powerful transition taking place over a pint. After a long and arduous journey, four friends—bonded forever by their trials and triumphs—quietly ponder their return to the Shire. Mugs clang in the background, the familiar smell of a home-cooked meal floats through […]
This Week’s Theme: Returning
Is it time to say goodbye? There might be emphatic nods all around, you and your teammates or family members knowing deep down that yes, it is time. That doesn’t mean your heart isn’t breaking into a million little pieces. Your return might have been planned, or it might have started with the jolt of […]
The Only Sure Thing
They started asking, and we started wondering: are we ready to go back? We had booked our tickets in early January, inked a departure date on the calendar, I mentally packed our house, and we finalized too many lists. I’d even had that recurring nightmare about packing. All sure signs that a transition was ahead. […]
8 Practical Tips for Returning and Furnishing Your Home
Here at Velvet Ashes we are passionate about holding your hand as you go through re-entry, because we know what a roller coaster it can be. Most often we focus on heart issues. Some of our re-entry posts that have really resonated are: Re-entry in the Cereal Aisle Are You Less Than Those Who Stay? […]
Returning Home
They say, “You can’t go home again.” I don’t honestly know who they are, but I think I’m learning it’s true. I have been serving in Germany for nearly four years now and, I’m not exactly sure where home is anymore. My next expected return home to the states will be at the end of June and I […]
Stopping the Stink and Finding Fresh Air
The smell of a green, old-fashioned Expo marker consumed my home office. It was all I had on hand. My husband and I had just moved back to our childhood hometown unexpectedly—our own re-entry—and I was trying to make sense of it with a used white board and a stinky marker, probably last uncapped in […]
Returning Stronger Than Before
After a fun, bantering conversation with my mom, she looked at my husband and said, “Wow, Jeremy! What happened? Jenilee is a bit feistier than I remember.” We all laughed and moved on from the moment. But in my head, I haven’t moved on. I am feistier. A bit more opinionated. Quicker to speak up, share […]
Walking on Jell-0
“Oh, hey! You’re a Hibma, aren’t you? Nice to see you again!” These were the words that welcomed me as I walked into our small public library in northwest Iowa. During the next 15 minutes, I would encounter three different teachers from my past. “You were in…wait, don’t tell me…somewhere in Asia, right?” Last May, […]