The "Goodbye's" Have Begun

With just over a week to go ... our goodbye's have begun in earnest. 

Last weekend we had the MMS Christmas celebration and next weekend our Sunday School class will be having their's. It has been a great opportunity for us as a family to see everyone in a couple of places and say goodbye's to those friends who have have been part of our lives for these last three years without having to arrange anything ourselves.

Four of the MAF/MMS munchkins at the Christmas Party

Goodbye's aren't just reserved for people though ... there will be places that we won't get to visit again, restaurants we won't get to eat in, shops we won't get to frequent and family traditions we've started, that we won't be able to continue once we've moved on from here.

While I'm really excited about the next step, I always love the next adventure and all the new things, friends and experiences that come with it. When a chapter in my life comes to an end, I hate the thought that I won't get to do all the things that are part of our life as a family right now ... and can get very sentimental.

The missionary lifestyle can be difficult as there are always a lot of comings and goings of people and good friends and while the goodbye's are tough, life keeps going in your own home. This time however, we're the ones who are going and so the wrench is going to be that much bigger, especially because it will be a couple of months before we have the chance to properly settle again.

I have really enjoyed our three years in the States, while it hasn't always been easy there have been some really special moments, including the arrival of Naomi. Every day of these last few weeks have been full of goodbye's and 'last time' experiences that I'm trying to treasure ... before we have the chance to create a whole load more where we make our next home.