Following as He Leads: Cheers and tears

You ever had one of those weeks that was just packed with events? That describes our last few days! On Friday, we had a lock-in with the youth of the church. (A lock-in is where the kids have to stay at the church all night, doing all sorts of activities EXCEPT sleeping...) We tried to recover our sleep on Saturday, and then on Sunday we had our goodbye dinner at Crosslands. Monday we picked up the Uhaul, packed it, and drove to Albuquerque. Before getting to Albuquerque, we had to stop by Henry and Casey's house to say good bye one last time. (They leave right near I-40, and it was a great time of fellowship!) By Tuesday, we were in Amarillo, and today I am writing you from San Angelo. We will now live in Texas with our families for the next two months before we fly out on August 4th.

So the last week has been full of fun times, and sad times- sometimes both at the same time! (did I use the word time enough??) The lock-in was a blast, but it was kind of sad knowing it was going to be our last event with the youth! Our boys loved being at the church all night, even though they did go to sleep around 1 or 2am.

Sunday was a difficult day. We went to church, and it was difficult seeing and doing things for the last time. Erin and I found it hard to sing the praise songs without tearing up- partly because the songs are so meaningful, and mostly because we knew it would be a while before we would sing with our church family again. Then we had the big dinner after the service. It was fun talking with friends and hanging out. There was a lot of laughter and smiles at first- until they had a time of sharing after dinner had been served. This was the beginning of the end- the part we have all been dreading as a church family for months. It was touching to hear what our family had to say about us. It is hard to put into words what happened. We felt honored to be able to see how we had impacted the lives of our church family. I say church family, but in reality, our church was our family. Most of the families have watched our children grow up, and two in particular loved to spend time with them on a regular basis. We would drop the kids off and go on a "hot" date to Gallup (laugh, laugh- if you know anything about Gallup!) Another family we have known for over 20 years. We have been through a lot together! Our pastor was more than simply our preacher- he and his family became close friends. His son and Jace have become best friends over the years, and it was especially touching (read: gut wrenching-) to see the tears as the goodbyes were said. It was not all tears- folks made jokes (about me especially) and we were all thankful for the times of laughter. But there was no denying the emptiness we all felt knowing that this was our last day together. The only comfort we had was the sovereignty of God. We knew we needed to leave and walk in obedience on this new path, and our family at Crosslands knew they had to allow us to go. So we rejoiced in the way God worked, even if we were sad about having to be apart from one another. Even as I write this days later, it is hard to find words to express our feelings. It was an honor to serve, and very difficult to say goodbye. But we will meet again, and with modern technology, it is much easier to stay in contact and make the long distance between us seem shorter.

Have you ever seen the Duvall movie Get Low? (The analogy isn't perfect- but we were blessed to see what folks thought of us!)That's what I asked our church family when it was our turn to speak. Being able to see and listen to stories about how God used us in the lives of others was a privilege. I told our friends that we weren't dead yet- just going to the other ,side of the world! Another thought we had about the Sunday dinner was how great heaven will be- there won't be the need for goodbyes- we will all be together, glorifying our Lord! We ended the event with the church laying hands on us and praying for us. Then we began the tearful hugs and last words to friends we won't see for about two years or so. We all cried like babies, but that's okay. I am still sad writing about all this, but there is a calm reassurance as well- to disobey and not go would be far scarier than heading to Indonesia! So we are excited and sad at the same time. It seems like a paradox, but it's not- don't worry, we aren't going crazy- I did that a looooong time ago! It's late- I better close for now.

Thanks for your continued prayers! We want to thank our family/friends out in the Thoreau area for the wonderful dinner and time we shared on Sunday. Across the ocean, our friends in Indonesia have started getting work done on the house- things are getting ready for our arrival. Cabinets, window screens, internet, etc. are all being worked on! Our thanks goes out to Wendy and Courtney especially as they have encouraged, advised and helped us get the house ready! Thanks! We will speak at Angelo Bible Church this weekend- it's the church we grew up at- please keep that in your prayers! I wanted to include a few pictures of the move- the kids tried to help as much as they could, and then they simply played around the truck! God bless and good night!
--mekj