22 Minutes

Mapquest said it would take 22 minutes to get home.

You know what that meant? It meant that at the latest, I would get home by 6:00pm. Whoa!! That was way too early. What was I supposed to from 6:00pm until I went to bed? No pick up or drop off. No dinner to cook. No one to cuddle with. No one’s

jokes to laugh at.

Of course, there were things to do. I could read by book. I could binge watch old tv shows. I could write in my journal. I could blog.

I could take a nap. Yes, there was plenty to do.

But I didn’t want to do any of that. I wanted to be home with my family. I wanted to follow the routine I had been used to following.

But no. I could not do that. I had to remain uncomfortable.  

See, I made a choice. I chose to accept this position. I chose to live away from my family. With every choice comes a

consequence. Tonight, my consequence was being lonely.

Luckily, loneliness is not a curse. Being alone presents an opportunity to redefine self and circumstances. A time to reflect.

Even Jesus spent time alone. As we see in Matthew 14:13b, “...he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.”

In this process of finding myself, I stayed at the office a little later than I needed to. I sat in my car for a few extra minutes.

I took a detour to a few stores. I ate dinner slowly. I took my time getting my clothes ready for Day 2. I took care of few emails that

needed my attention. I had an evening with no haste. Before I knew it, it was 10:15p and I was exhausted.

Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Day 1 was over and I fight to see another day!