Goodbyes and Hellos

Goodbyes and Hellos. For the past few years, that's all I seem to be doing. Saying goodbye to one juncture of my life, and saying hello (albeit hesitantly) to the next juncture. Our Send-Off was Thursday, and I've been taking a few days to process it all. I miss my roommates, I miss the kids we ministered with, I miss the adults to nurtured us and helped us do the job we were called to do. However, I'm not sad. I feel like we did a fantastic job this year, and I feel a sense of closure and accomplishment, which is a great feeling. I received a lot of cards and gifts from people, and the kind words that they said to me were both gratifying and incredibly humbling. One young woman said that she hopes to be half the woman that I am some day. Talk about a compliment! Still, I feel like they have all given so much more to me than I ever could to them. It's a great feeling, knowing that you did a good service for a year, and that your presence will be missed by a lot of people. It somehow makes all the rest of the drama and crap worth it.

So now I'm home with my family for about a month. I've spent the past few days trying to clean out my room, which has spent the last five years collecting tons of stuff that I just don't need or want anymore. Couple that with the unbearable heatwave we've had lately, and this becomes a near impossible task. Still, I am doing a little each day. I managed to finally clear off my bed, no small feat, so now I can have some space to unpack my clothes and give a lot of things away. My trip to Kentucky made me realize how much unnecessary stuff I have in my own room, so I've already donated about five garbage bags full of clothes. There's always more to do...

So, this is just a brief check-in. Things are good, things are relaxing, and things are humid. So, you know. We're surviving. I went to the library on Friday and checked out a book. I haven't done that in probably six or seven years. It felt glorious.

I hope all is well with you and your world, whoever you are. May you know how deeply you are loved and cherished by our Creator. :-)

Peace.