We have been reading over the past several weeks what is referred to as “The Last Supper Discourses.” Today, Jesus is giving them further consolation by telling the disciples that he is not leaving them permanently and promises that he will come back to stay with them. However, the apostles fail to grasp what he means. One of the saddest and most memorable scenes in my life was crouching down to console my 7-year-old son, who was just told that I was leaving on an airplane to join those in our squadron who were deploying for the Mediterranean and the start of the Iraq War. I picked him up and promised that I would be back. But he had no concept of what those words meant since I had never been away from him up to that point in his life. He just knew that he didn’t want me to leave. I was blessed to stay in touch with him throughout my deployment, with emails and video messages, so that he knew I was okay, that I loved him, and that I would be coming home soon. We have that same opportunity with the Lord. While we desire to be with him and wish he would return soon to fix this crazy world, he has given us his promise that he will return. God’s Word is his love letter to us. Embrace it and believe it. For in a “little while,” he will greet you in love and say, “Welcome home, my good and faithful servant.”