Teresa and I have yet again become a statistic. We became "empty nesters" a few weeks ago when Cecilia recently joined Ellison and Terrell in the college ranks. It is rather quiet at our house these days. Lying in bed the other night, Teresa opined, "I can feel their absence." I agreed.
 
Another thing we agree on is that we do not like the term "empty nester." It sounds so .... I don't know....vacuous. I know that the purpose of parenting is to lovingly prepare our children for full-on engagement with God's world in such a way that they do not need us the same way they did when they were learning to tie their shoes, but "empty nest" seems to miss the point. It points to the absence rather than the greater fullness. I like to think that we have labored with God to prepare our kids to go out into this vast mission field where they serve as Christ's ambassadors. For the time being, that makes Teresa and me their mission sending agency/committee/

team/community or something like that. We have enjoyed having first Terrell, then Ellison and now look forward to Cecilia returning at a break or weekend to fill us in on what God has done in, around and through her. As my cousin told me several years ago, our college-bound kids are either missionaries or mission fields. We trust that God has used us to prepare them to be the latter.
 
For now, while we get accustomed to the deafening quiet, we rejoice that while much has changed in our home, more is still the same in our lives. God is still nearer to each one of us than we could ever be to one another, His mercies are new every morning, and nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
 
See you on Sunday.
 
Terrell