HUDDLED AROUND MY CELL PHONE

ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR

for a couple of hours

while we talked with Nathan!

That is what our family did early this evening!

And oh, how sweet it was.

It was the best!  The best of the best, really.

The missionaries had permission to call home from the airport this evening before they departed for Argentina.  They left from the training center early this morning and will arrive in Argentina, Buenos Aires, at 9 AM tomorrow. 

After Nathan arrives in Buenos Aires, he will be put on a bus for Bahia Blanca.  He has been told that this bus ride can be any length of time between 3 and 24 hours, depending on the bus he gets on.  Hee, hee.  I can see him now, with his big suitcases, big brown eyes looking a bit like a deer caught in headlights, in 86 degree weather (I checked!), squished on a bus full of people (with armpits in his face) and traveling for who knows how long.

And you know, he will love it all!  Every bit of it.  He is so excited to get there and get working!

He had let me know that he had permission to call today and that it would be around 5 PM.  We had a lot of schedule arranging to do in order to get everyone home at 5. 

At 4:30 my cell phone rang, just after I dropped off Smash at his percussion lesson.  A strange number came up on my caller ID, when I answered, I heard "Hi Mom!"  

Hi Mom.  Two of my favorite words.  When I hear those two words, it means that one of my most favorite people is greeting me and is about to share something with me.

It was Nathan, calling early! 

Jonathan was on an important conference call, Emily was in sectionals for her french horn.  Meg had the night off of gymnastics and was working on homework. 

When I heard Nathan's voice on the other end of the phone, I thought my heart might just burst!  It felt like it had been forever since I had last talked with him.  Yet, it seemed as if it had only been a few days as well.  

I explained to him that everyone was planning on coming home early from their various activities in order to talk with him but that they weren't available yet.  Then I was really kind and considerate when I asked, "Should I call you back when they all come home?"  He replied, "No, I can just talk to you until they get there."

And so we did.

And it was beautiful.

And fun.

And Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! 

That is the best word I can think of at the moment to describe just how great it was.

But it got even better.

When everyone was home, we ran into the living room, sat on the floor in a circle around my cell phone.  With it on speaker, we all talked (and laughed) away!

He shared with us some wonderful experiences and a little Spanish as well.  He had lots of questions about how and what everyone was doing here at home and was genuinely interested.  He always is sincere in wanting to know how everyone is doing and feeling.  We had lots of questions for him as well.  It was an absolute treat to hear more about his experiences during the last two months.

He was so appreciative of everything, letters, packages, treats, etc.  Thank you to all of you who have done something for him.

He was also thankful for our prayers in his behalf.  He said he feels strengthened by them. 

How blessed I feel this evening.  I wish I could adequately describe to you how wonderful he sounded.  He seemed happier than ever before!

What a blessing for us all.  (Especially Nathan).

I could shout supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from the roof-tops!

 

Comments

[Megan]

It was AWESOME Talking to Nathan!! I loved it and I cant wait until Christmas when he can tell us all about Argentina!

[shelley]

I'm so happy for you, Marilyn!

[Karen]

Hooray!!! How exciting!! And what a treat! I'm so glad that Nathan got to call you from the airport, and so glad that everyone could talk to him! What fun!

[Marilyn]

I'm so glad you got to talk to Nathan for so long. (I hate it when I post after Karen... She steals all my thoughts!) I hope he will be safe as he journeys and I am so excited for him to reach his destination. Knowing Nathan and other young men and women like him are out there serving the Lord fills my heart with joy. I can't wait to hear all about it!!

[Tamara Murray]

Ohhhhhhh that is so great! And to think you'll be able to talk to him again in just 9 days, how cool is that? It'll be a blast to hear him gush on about his first impressions of the country he is falling head-over-heels in love with!

[smash]

it is awsome i cant wait to hear about argintina

[Jonathan]

Funny little story. Nathan wondered why the time on the pay phone wasn't running out... His mom informed him that it was a local call.

Hope he keeps some sense of direction in Argentina.