All are safe and sound. E's asleep in my bed. J in the study. B & G downstairs. I, well, I am fitting in just a wee bit more television time with the sound so low I am not really sure of the unfolding plot development. I am up because I am so full of joy to have my other family here in my home.

You should see all the things they need to stuff into the car in order to be able to care for their children in my tiny home. G, an amazing man, very cheerfully empties it all into my house and will pack it all back into the car with equal alacrity. Never have I heard him complain about that chore, even when he has to do so with constant vigilance that my beloved puppydog does not escape out the front door.

G is an unbelievable witness of a man desiring to walk the path of Christ in this world. Don't get me wrong; he is not saint. Beneath his amenable exterior lies a temper that will sometimes bubble forth (although I struggle to smile when I see it because I find the contrast with his normal demeanor ever so humorous) and a self-view that could stand some bolstering. He desires to love his wife and children with his whole being and strives to do so while serving as light and salt for others. He has a very sharp, very dry wit, which is really just icing on the cake.

However, the cake with me is often a bit lumpy. For years and years and years, it always seems like we are talking two separate languages. He thinks I am angry at him. I don't have a clue. I admire him. He doesn't have a clue. Always a half step off, even though he does makes such sweet gestures like going out of his way to assure me, before he married B that he want her to still have time with her friends. And giving me a key to their house last year when he discovered I did not yet have one. I wrote about that. I cried on the way home then. It still moves me. I'm not even allowed a key to my father's house when he lives just minutes away, not hours.

Here's another example of how thoughtful he can be: I didn't get to join them for either Thanksgiving or Christmas after experiencing such wonderful holidays with them last year. Remember his stuffing? Knowing that I have been salivating over the memory of that stuffing for over a year, G asked if we could do a turkey meal together while they are hear. What more could you want in your best friend's husband?

Just a day and a half until I experience that stuffing once more!