Welcome home, kids. Hungry?

My kids were away on mission trips over Spring Break. Not a bad way for four American teenagers to spend their free time. I retrieved two of them from our church parking lot this afternoon after a 35 hour bus ride home from Matamoras, Mexico, where they built houses and did street evangelism all week. They were exhausted, dirty, hungry - and glowing. There is, I believe, an inevitable change that occurs in the hearts of young people when they step outside their own comfortable worlds and engage in activities that serve the physical and spiritual needs of others. Very quickly they come to view the world differently - and I'm so grateful for it.

"What would you like to eat?" I asked them. "I'll make you anything you want. Pot roast? Fried Chicken?"
"We want something light - fresh," they both replied.
We opted for our favorite summertime take-out meal (for which I take no credit at all).
Publix makes a fabulous summer salad called, well, the "Summer Salad." It's outstanding. It contains an enormous bed of mixed greens, sliced turkey, blue cheese crumbles, sliced strawberries, mandarin oranges, chopped apples and heavily sugared pecans. You drizzle the whole thing with a delicious Citrus-Herb dressing. We add a large loaf of crusty french bread, a gallon of sweet tea and call it a meal. Simple and yummy.

Welcome home, kids. You look the same, but I know you're different. Life is good.