Two Things

I've done a fair amount of traveling over the past few years -- since 2006, I've logged in a trip to Arizona, a trip to New Hampshire, countless trips to Connecticut, and seven trips to Singapore... and that's just for business.  Add in personal trips, and you can throw California, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Georgia, Missouri, Vermont, and New York into the mix.

[Completely irrelevant thought - I'm laying poolside at the Singapore Marriott right now, and a quick glance up to the sky revealed a big cloud that just happened to look like a Chinese dragon. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program...]

That's a lot of suitcase packing, itinerary planning, hotel check-ins, boarding pass printing, etc.  And through it all, I've gotten pretty good at a lot of things..

• I can navigate myself through the Memphis, Hartford, Chicago, Hong Kong, and Singapore airports with ease
• Customs and immigration - no problem
• I know when and how to pick the best airplane seats (including upstairs on United's 747s)
• I'm practically an expert at forcing my body to adjust to a 13-hour time change with little side effect
• I'm on a first-name basis with the employees at the Singapore Marriott Executive Lounge
• I know when/how to ensure that you get the picks of the best cars at BDL's AVIS lot
• I've become ultra-efficient at filling out expense reports

And on and on I could go.  Now, of course, I'm certainly not an "expert traveler", and there are certainly a lot of people who travel a whole lot more than I do.   My point is this -- you learn a lot when you travel for business.

But there are two things that I still haven't figured out.

1) How not to miss my wife's companionship.

You know, I can make it for a few days before I start to get lonely -- maybe even longer, if it happens to be an incredibly busy business trip.  But after the 4th or 5th day of waking up alone, eating breakfast alone, riding in taxis alone, eating dinner alone, exercising alone, walking the streets alone, etc. - it starts to get a bit challenging.  Perhaps that's why I struck up a conversation with Luca (an Italian guy I met at T.G.I.Fridays the other night), and with Thor (a German guy I ended up sitting next to at the restaurant last night).  And why I look forward to hanging out in the Executive Lounge -- at a bare minimum, the wait staff will ask if I need anything, which sometimes yields the first conversation I've had in hours.  But none of that's the same... and I find myself, more than ever, reminded of how much I cherish and treasure the best friend that has been faithfully with me for the past 13 years.  (Psst, that's you, Jackie -- I love you immensely!)

So that's the first thing.  Here's number two:

2) How to answer my 3 year-old when he asks, daily, "Daddy, where are you?"

This is a tough one.  Harder to cope with, emotionally, I think, than #1.  Jude, at three years of age, has no way of understanding why I'm gone, where I am, why he can't see me (Skype just doesn't really cut it with him), when he'll see me again, how far away I am, etc.  He just knows that his daddy's not there.  I sense that he might be a bit irritated with me -- and I don't blame him.  I can't say "I'll see you soon", when I know that it's going to be 6 or 7 more days before I'm home.  When I talked with my family on the phone earlier today (it was Saturday night state-side), Jude was telling me that he was hoping to see me at church in the morning.  :-(  I know he'll cope, but, geez, it's hard for me to know that I can't really do much to comfort him or help him understand what's going on...

Now please understand, I'm not looking for sympathy here -- I am incredibly blessed, and my travel has not been in vain; the net result of all of my business travel over the past 5 years is this: my family and I are getting ready to move to Singapore with an amazing Expat package from my company!  (Not to mention all of the other perks - the cultural experiences, the frequent flier miles, the hotel points, etc.)  And my wife, and my children, have all been amazingly supportive each and every time I've had to leave home -- whether it was a quick 2-day trip, the more common 4- or 5-day trip, or even the occasional 2-week overseas adventure.

And any feelings of loneliness or sadness are temporary; heck, by the time some of you get around to reading this, I'll already be on my way back home.  And, to be honest, God's been helping me deal with all of this in His own way... helping me find increased comfort in Christ as my ultimate companion -- the one who never leaves my side, no matter where I am.  And by the same token, I need to ratchet up my faith level and rest in the knowledge that God will give peace and comfort to Jude (and the rest of my family) when I'm not around -- I am certainly not their Savior; God's already taken care of that in a pretty big way.  ;-)

So where am I going with all this?  Nowhere, really.  I just wanted to share what was on my heart.  But in conclusion, I think I should leave you with this rather appropriate section from scripture.  Here's some verses from Psalm 139 (NLT):

1O Lord, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

2You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

4You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

5You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand!

7I can never escape from your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

8If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave,^a you are there.

9If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

11I could ask the darkness to hide me

and the light around me to become night—

12but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

 Selah.