The Weekend

I had a great last weekend in the States. My in-laws came to town. Well, some of them did. Two siblings and their spouses and my mother-in-law. I took my mom and sis-in-law to get their eyebrows threaded!!!! I felt so bad, my mom-in-law's sensitive skin got a little bloody! I have never seen that with threading before. I still love it. You need to try it if you haven't.

We also went to the Cheap Trick, Poison, Def Leppard concert! The last concert I went to was in the same arena and was another has-been band called, New Kids on the Block. Don't judge, they were so awesome you would have been as surprised as I was. My BFF got us super celebrity seating for the concert Saturday night while my husband and his family were up in nose-bleed. I did not feel bad.

Have you ever been to a hair band concert? How about three hair bands in one night? It was so freakin' fun. I was so close to the stage my hair caught on fire from the pyrotechnics/hairspray combo! (That's an exaggeration but I could feel the heat!)

The other thing I noticed was that the crowd was quite different from the NKOTB crowd. I don't know why, I mean they all are boy bands singing in roughly overlapping decades...hmm...

Anyway, it was a brilliant event to end our Stateside time. What could be more American than this concert?

Sunday was the day of goodbyes. We were blessed to have our families join us in church for our last time of worship and fellowship. I wasn't emotional until we stood to worship together and it hit me-this is the last time we'll be worshiping together like this for a long, long time. In fact, I have no idea what 'church' will look like next week! It won't be in English and it won't be with people we've lived in community with for years. I was so very grateful for the community I was with. They have risen up around us in such a Christ-centered way. I'm going with Christ and as I go I know this community is going with us.

We had to say goodbye to the in-laws at the end of the service so they could make their 4-6 hour drives home. It was an emotional mess, but a beautiful mess.

I've discovered that folks feel like they have to qualify their grief about us leaving. Example, "I know what you guys are doing is a good thing and you're living your dream and making the world a better place but..." Let me just say, it isn't necessary. Just say, "I'm really going to miss you and it really hurts to see you leave." I want to hear that. It means you feel something for me/us that is beyond just what we're doing.

We had a reception after church and I was so blessed by the number of people who came by to give us their blessing, hugs, love. It, friends, was a huge encouragement to me. Thank you dear ones for taking the time to come by and let us know you are praying for us and excited for us. Like I told many of you, we need your prayers! I hate knowing that some folks see us as super-spiritual because of our vocation. I can promise you we are no different in any way from everyone else. God's grace is sufficient for all of us in the same way. My location is just international.

Sunday night was my family's gathering. It was a lot of fun. It wasn't near as emotional as Sunday morning, but just as heart breaking to leave. I love my family and I know they love me. That's what makes it painful. Like I've said before I was made to love this deeply and I choose to embrace the pain of goodbye rather than miss the blessing of that love by ignoring it. Does that make any sense?

I'm ready. I'm ready to go. I never thought it would feel this simple, this settled, this good. I know so clearly this is the God-ordained moment in time for us. It's never been so clear. So, here we go!