Norfolk

I was, surprisingly nervous. I’m not really sure why. I was going to see people who knew me. And who I knew. But then they were also people I hadn’t seen for the best part of fifty years, and who last saw me when I was about nine or ten years old! That’s a long time. A long time. I don’t actually remember the last time I saw them, although it turns out it was probably at their house, which is where I was going to meet them. But I didn’t remember that either. Funny how I felt nervous. What exactly did I have to be nervous about? These friends knew and loved my mum and dad. And when my dad died they came to visit my mum. More than once. But, I was nervous. I guess part of it was that they’d watched me on the live stream and said I reminded them of my dad. What if, When I was sitting in front of them, in their house, I was a disappointment? What if, when they spoke to me, they couldn’t see my dad in me at all? What if we didn’t really have much to talk about? What if, although the idea of meeting up was a good one, it didn’t really work? It would be a long way to travel for a disappointing visit. It turns out they were nervous too! They had the same questions. Funny that! But it also turned out it was a lovely visit. As soon as we arrived we got chatting…and that was that! Memories, laughter, sadness, questions, wondering. It was all there. I saw pictures of my family I’d never seen before (on a really old slide viewer)! The five of us - mum and dad, my sister, brother and me. There aren’t many pictures of all of us. The conversation was lovely with much laughter and insight. And I learnt a few things about my family too. About my dad. The evening went really quickly. There was much more we could have said. There was more to say, more to hear, more to understand. We parted really, really pleased we’d overcome our nervousness. We parted really, really pleased we’d made contact. We parted looking forward to the next time we’ll get together. I was reminded part way through the evening that, because I was born on Norwich, I’m a Norfolk boy. It was good to be home. Very good. Sometimes going home, being home, can make us a bit nervous. Especially if we’ve been away for a while. Sometimes I spend a while away from home in my faith. And sometimes I feel nervous about going home. Now I’m wondering what me heavenly Father thinks about that?