I got a really nice work trip all wrapped up, and I'll be on the road in about thirty minutes for home....what a glorious thought. This photo at the Eighth Air Force Memorial Chapel summarized my thoughts of deployments and assignments from my 25 year career. I am always ready to head home, but I do miss friends I've served with around the world. I've stood side by side with Brits, a soldier from Belize, Polish, Japanese, Korean, Albanian, El Salvador, Canadians, a few Germans, Thai, and quite a few others who cherished freedom much as we do. No matter where we served, or how tightly the assignment bound us, our thoughts always turned to home.

This is a very valid reminder our domestic church is the temple at the center of our lives. The domestic church is the root of our values, propelling us into the virtues allowing us to serve with those of different backgrounds and nationalities. Why? Because in my examples we displayed to each other virtues based on natural law in word and deed. We had an innate recognition our partners had value beyond mere economic or safety. We were people with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Conversely if our families taught us differently, my friendships with these nice people would not exist.

So time to head home, and continue my duties as a father...and this weekend return to my parents for a week. There I will enjoy the comforting feeling of being a son in the presence of his mother and father for a little while once again.