As of today...the six week countdown to our departure date has begun. Sad? yes. Happy? yes. Bitter-sweet is the best word to describe an experience such as leaving one place and heading to another. (In one of my favorite children's books there is a quote that I love that pertains to this coming and going that seems to dictate our lives on so many levels, "a little bit sad about the place you are leaving, a little bit glad about the place you are going. It is a time of quiet wonder..." from McCloskey's "Time of Wonder"). Please be in prayer for us. We have some throwing out of things to do (always hard for me, especially when it comes to art work of PJ or Calvin) and some organizing of things and, of course, packing. Now, in case you didn't know, I am a procrastinator. Always have been, probably always will be and I've been thinking..."we've got lots of time...no need to rush into it." Well, today I was strongly encouraged by my friend and teammate to get on the ball with it...like YESTERDAY! And, then I started thinking about our other dear friends and teammates, the Mills, who return in about three weeks time. So, that has gotten me in gear and today I started to clean and pack away pictures and knick-knacks. My goal is to have everything packed and distributed and to it's new owner or in it's rightful place before the Mills arrive on April 9. =) I want to be able to spend every possible minute with the Mills family as well as spending those last couple weeks with our dear friends here. It really seems impossible that nearly four years have gone by. I know there will be many tears in the coming weeks...mainly tears of leaving and also seeing so many growing and trusting in Christ, but I am sure there will be tears of frustration and tiredness of just getting all the stuff where it needs to be. Working here it has been beautiful to see God building His kingdom. It's impressive to see the Holy Spirit at work in lives and changing them for Christ's glory....knowing that I had very little to do with it and yet somehow, someway, God has called each of us here to live out our lives among the Thai people.
I will try to post some pics of Paul's trip up north. And, we had a team retreat this past weekend which was a lot of fun and another reminder of God's faithfulness to our team. I laughed so hard I cried one night (with Jan...I always laugh really hard with her!) and we had a blast swimming in the ocean with the boys. Adele enjoyed stuffing her face with sand...yeah, I thought one mouthful of that and that would be the end of it but Adele being Adele she had to prove me wrong! I will try to get pics of all this on here soon! Until then, please pray for us. Please pray for open doors to share Christ with those who we haven't yet had many opportunities. Oh, and also pray for a campus dinner we are having here on Thursday evening. Pray for good conversations about the Lord. Thanks for your prayers. They sustain us and God hears...
pressing on,.
crystal
3 comments:
Hello, dear friend. There will be much "bittersweet-ness" in the coming weeks. So glad we get to share some of that time with you, and I am honored that you want to maximize your time with us. As soon as we can stand up straight again, know that we will be ready to help you pack, along with doing lots of other fun things together! I really do know how to pray for you during this time, and know that I will. We missed being with you all this weekend!
Crystal I will be praying for you all in the next 6 weeks. Try to savor it all, which is hard to do in the midst of busyness. I understand about the tears. I cried a few frustration tears while we were still there and packing, but the sorrowful tears came as we started to taxi down the runway and I realized that I couldn't get off the plane. It was just then that I was able to comprehend the leaving and give a moment to morn. Wish we could be there to celebrate your four years of serving. You have been such a blessing to the team and to me!
Crystal,
I will be praying. I know there have to be conflicting feelings when leaving a place you love.
Just a suggestion, take some pictures of the kids artwork. It is much easier for them to get rid of when they know there is a picture of it. Well, it works for our family. I am very excited that you will be back in the states soon. It will be wonderful to catch up once you get here and settled into a routine.
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