A sad goodbye and sacrifice

Yesterday morning we went to the airport to see our longtime friends off to Brazil to be missionaries. I had been telling myself that it wouldn't be that big of deal. We would have facebook and skype. I already have a few wonderful long-distance friends and it has worked out fine. No big deal.

We got to the airport and the tears started to well up. After pastors words and prayer, which made me cry more, (thankfully I wasn't alone:-) I busied myself with my kiddos. A great distraction. After all, the more I avoided Teresa, the longer I could be in denial. Hey, even a few more minutes is worth it. Turns out she had the same idea. :-) See, there is a reason we are such good friends. :-) Unfortunately our minutes were running out and we had to face reality. I know our friendship will always be as close as it is, but distance does change things just because it does, not because we want it to. The friend that I could see everyday if I wanted to has now been relegated to a long distance friend who's presence I can only be in once every four years. As long as I've known they were leaving I've thought about the sacrifices they were making to go share Jesus with Brazil. I neglected to think about the sacrifice it would be for us, for me. Teresa's favorite verse has been a blessing to me the last few days. "As for God, His way is perfect." Ps. 18:30 I love that girl, and I know we can trust that God has our best in mind, I'm just glad my other long distance friends don't require an expensive plane ticket or a visa to go visit them. :-) Guess I'd better start saving money now. :-)

This picture represents what makes me almost more sad then sending a friend overseas. Our kids. My girls adore her boys. Gabi has said their names even before her own sister. One morning she woke up before five and refused to go back to sleep. I put her in our bed. She was quite for awhile, but then out of the blue she starts to chant "O-en, ackson, o-en, ackson. thaniel." Owen, Jackson, Nathaniel. It was super sweet, even if it was slightly annoying at 5 in the morning.

Karis and Owen, as you have seen, adore each other. So my prayer is that somehow that relationship can continue. Reality says that isn't possible, but we will see. Who knows what God has in mind.
So, while it stinks to be so sad to have someone leave, it is also a sign of how much God has blessed us with good friends. It wouldn't hurt if we didn't love them so much. I'm excited to see the plans God has for them and can't wait to hear about the first year of language school. :-)