NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!

Tonight we had some dear friends over for dinner. Some friends we met last May in training in Virginia and we have been with them and their three precious boys for a year now. As we were saying goodbye tonight, it occured to me that in 3 months, 3 weeks and 5 days we are going to have to say goodbye AGAIN!!! Last year, the thought of leaving home, family and friends could bring me to tears in seconds and I had a yucky knot in my stomache for 6 months leading up to it; a sense of expectant dread.

Tonight, as I hugged my dear friends neck and told her boys how much I loved them (and I truly, truly do), the realization that another painful goodbye is right around the corner shot through my heart. I decided last year that I never wanted to go through that again, but yet here it is once again looming over us without us even having a say-so in the matter. And we will also be leaving our friends at school and the friends our children have come to love so much. These people have become our family. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, sad days and victories in life together. I could pour my heart out for pages about how hard it is to say good-bye to those you love - old friends and new friends. Once God knits your hearts together it is impossible to stop loving them or stop caring. So, although we are thrilled to be living in Peru in just a few short months, the goodbyes are going to have to start all over again. And that stinks! And that hurts!Because soon we will all be dispersed throughout Central and South America doing the work the Lord has called to us. It is beautifully sad.