I am back. 

Perhaps you were unaware of my absence, because for the last month John stepped in with sending moats from a decade ago. It was kind of him, to go digging in the archive of these messages and pull them out of obscurity, set them up in the conveyor belt of this website, and launch them into your laptops. 

But having made a bit of a fuss about retiring from this job of supporting marriages, it came flooding back to me that I do love it. In a teary burst of regret I asked my boss if I could slip back into the niche I had so recently left empty, and he graciously welcomed me. 

I am surprised at myself. I felt sure that my heart was leading me to step aside, and now I feel just as calmly that it tells me to return. 

Why is that? 

When I think of the route I follow to visit my daughter in the city, there are pivots. Siri takes me north before she leads me south, with eastbound roads thrown in for good measure. Yet they all work together to allow me to stand at the threshold of someone I love. 

It occurs to me that the pandemic may have played a part in my decision. It did concoct a disconnect in my rhythm, and no doubt in yours. Yet I trust that God uses even such anomalies as a means of sorting out who and what we cherish most. 

"Before being reduced to order, it is very common for everything to fall into confusion or seeming chaos. This allows things that cling together poorly to separate, and when they have separated, the Lord arranges them in their place." Heavenly Secrets 842