"Welcome Home"
By Dena Dyer
http://www.denadyer.com

"Welcome Home, Carey and Dena!" the note read. It was taped to our front door, and as I took the piece of paper down, I looked at my husband. "What's this?" I asked, and he just grinned.

As we stepped into our tiny apartment, my mouth hung open. It was sparkling—there wasn't an ounce of clutter anywhere.

It was 1:30 a.m. As first-year seminary students, Carey and I had spent an entire week working at our day jobs—him at a campus bookstore and me in the seminary public relations office—and then eating fast food in the car while driving to our weekend job (an hour away) as actors/singers in a Christian theater production. Ironically, this week was called "hell week" by the cast, since we were only a few days from the show's opening. We spent evenings from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., or later, going over our movements, getting costumes fitted, practicing the scenes and

It was exhausting and exhilirating. Each day, we had guzzled caffeine at our day jobs and told ourselves it would only last a few more nights. Our house and car were a wreck—but we'd fix that later . . . after we were back in the land of the living.

Dropping my bag, I walked through the living/dining/kitchen area and noticed that the dishes were done—by hand, since we didn't have a dishwasher. A note on the refrigerator said that there was a casserole inside, for tomorrow's lunch.

The living room floor had been vacuumed, and the linoleum in the crackerbox kitchen had been swept and mopped.

"Who did this?" I asked my smiling husband. He shrugged and laughed. "Fairies," he said.

I made my way into the bedroom, where the bed had been made and a note taped to the pillow read: "Enjoy, you lovebirds!"

"It was Andrea and Lee, wasn't it?" I asked. "She must have borrowed the key from you."

Carey nodded. "She asked me for my key yesterday, and I gave it to her. But she wouldn't tell me what she was up to—only that they and the Hartigs were planning a surprise."

Lee and Andrea Chitwood, as well as Jason and Sharon Hartig, were two young couples from our church who were also seminary students. We had hit it off with them from the first Sunday we met. We spent every weekend together, playing cards and watching television, going to cheap restaurants and having potluck parties. (We were all poor grad students, which helped forge our quick bond)

Though they had all been happy for us when we got parts in the production, they were somewhat disappointed when they found out that we'd be tied up on weekends for six months.
Carey and I vowed to not let the show affect our friendship with our favorite people. "We'll get together during the week, on Sundays after church," we promised them.
Now my eyes filled with tears as I followed Carey into the bathroom, which smelled like bathroom cleaner and lemons. I noticed that the mirror shined.

"This is incredible!" I exclaimed. "They are awesome friends. We have to do something for them. This was so thoughtful of them."

Carey yawned. "Yes, it was." He grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the bed. He was in his pajamas, with his head on the pillow, before I could blink.

I smiled, and followed suit. I knew the Chitwoods and Hartigs wouldn't appreciate a 2 a.m. wakeup call—no matter what good friends they were.

"We'll thank them in the morning," I said.

Dena Dyer is a writer, singer, actress and speaker who has had short stories, articles, book reviews, poems and devotionals published in over 100 magazines, including Woman’s World, Today’s Christian Woman, Spirit-Led Woman, Brio, HomeLife and Discipleship Journal. She is a regular columnist for SHINE magazine and has contributed to several books, including Rest Stops for Busy Moms (B & H, 2003) and God’s Little Devotional Book for Grandparents (Honor, 2003). Dena makes her home in Granbury, Texas, with her son (Jordan, 4) and performer/producer hubby (Carey, 31 but a child at heart). For more information, visit her website at: www.denadyer.com and read her blog at www.denadyer.typepad.com .