Prodigal

All this Time

I was Ignorant

to the concept

Of Waste.

I thought Coming Back

Coming Home, or

Just showing Up

Was all I had to do.

How Wrong I was!

I suppose, that;

for a very Select Few,

Showing Up is all

that Is expected of them.

But what is True for Me

is, and Truly always has been:

'To whom Much is Given,

Much is Expected'

When I think of all

I have taken for Granted;

of 

All I have been given

And let Lay to Waste,

I see that 

I didn't almost Die back there,

I had, quite Literally,

Buried myself Alive....

Some of the things I did

or the decisions I made

weren't All for waste --

After All,

I learned more about Love

I learned a lot about Patience

I learned how Fear can freeze you

I Learned A Lot ...

But the Worst decision

I made

is the one

That I made

Over and Over again:

 -- Not to leave

When it was Time

and the Door had been Opened --

////

I can Clearly remember 4 times

that I decided Not to Go

But I realize there were More.

Times when it would have been easier than

Certainly it was this time.

But then I wouldn't have

Learned what I know Right Now

And I wouldn't have Met Her ...

Who has Made all the Difference in Each of My Days.

Prodigal.

I thought it meant

'Returning'

or,

'To Return'

It Doesn't.

It Means:

'To be Wasteful'
or,

'One who Is wasteful'.

So now,

Now that I have pulled Away

Completely,

And explained as Honestly and as

Gently as Anyone possibly Could Have;

I Know.

I Finally Get it.

I get That it is not good enough

To have just Accomplished That

And to have Simply returned

To my Family --

I must Now

Give Back

by Living my Life

By Utilizing the gifts

That I've been Given

To touch, heal, serve and comfort

Others.

I, now, must shepherd my Gifts

and be a good Steward

of the Wealth that Lies at my Feet.

I will Continue to Return --

But Prodigal,

I will Be No More.

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