In His Love,
Les
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Prologue
"As I sat on the front porch swing at the family home place in the summer months of our furlough in 2007, I glanced at the beautiful landscape in front of me. On many occasions I came to this very spot with a cup of coffee in hand. I reflected on the many blessings that the Lord provided over the past nine years.
The view was breathtaking. Rows and rows of pine trees were planted across the acreage. The pine smell radiated the area and presented a calming effect. How gorgeous was this farming land in a rain storm! As droplets of water fell from the edges of the roof, I looked through the haze of rain and saw the antique farm equipment under an old oak tree. It beautifully decorated the front yard. I did my best to paint a mental picture. Black and picturesque stand the old wagons, a hand plow or two and a piece of an old picket fence. Home.
While contemplating, I grabbed a sheet of scrap paper and wrote down these words:
After returning to your native land, you find home is the same. It never changes, not really. Sure there are a few minor differences, but the overall look and feel is still home as well as the people you hold dear are near. A scene from The Lord of the Rings (2003) series flashed across my thoughts. The event seemed to depict my emotions at that moment. After Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam returned to the Shire from their long journey with the ring, they were sitting at a table together in familiar surroundings. They looked around at the well known faces and environment. Then they glanced at one another. Without saying a word, they realized how much they had changed. Possibly no one knew to what magnitude, for only they had experienced the journey. They had changed inwardly. The incidences that they lived through were irremovable. However, home was still the same.
Outwardly I look like the same Leslie, but inwardly I am new. Others may never know the extent of my journey. The trek has been worth it all, for I needed the transformation. What I have seen and have experienced will always be on the forefront of my mind. In Russian the word for having lived through a period of time carries a deeper meaning. It does not just mean having lived during a time period but having journeyed through it. The one thing over the years that kept me going, other than my Lord, was the one thing that remained the same or undisturbed— home."
-Journal: The Chosen Path, L. Burch, 2011
