Sendusout

The goodbyes have begun in earnest. Friday was my last day at work, the job that I have had for 9 years since graduating from University. Sunday was our last day at the church we have attended and labored in since 1997. And Wednesday we will be loading up our little U-Haul trailer and pulling out of Nampa, the town where both Melissa and I have primarily lived since 1993. We are definitely turning a page in our lives storybook.

I heard quote recently that went something like, “You will have many great beginnings and even better endings”. This really has stuck with me. In leaving Nampa we are leaving people that we have loved deeper than we could have imagined, people by whom we have been loved and accepted so completely. In the physical, there seems to be a rending that is taking place by saying goodbye to our loved ones here. However, in God, the truth of the statement ! “You will have many great beginnings and even better endings” can be realized.

During our years in Nampa we have been loved, we have been mended, we have been equipped, and we are being sent out in great celebration as the Lord has called us. In the spiritual, we are even strengthening the bonds of friendship and love that we share with our friends here by becoming sent partners of the ministry that we have been a part of. As we are covered in the sacrificial love, prayers, and support of so many we feel these bonds growing stronger than otherwise possible. It is so wonderful how God becomes greater in all that we sacrificially turn over to Him. In our case, we are sacrificially turning over our relationships here which we would love to cling to in the physical, but we can already feel these relationships growing in this great ending.

We are also very eager for the great beginnings which we will be experiencing over the nex! t few months. We desire to be people who are simple and true ! before G od and those that we meet and develop relationship with. We know God is going before us in all that we do and in God beginnings which have a foundation in Love are found.

One a mostly unrelated note, I wrote this song a while back after a very dear friend was off to college. We are looking forward to the reunions we will have with our loved ones in years to come as we share the bond God has given us that none can break.

Hellos After Long Goodbyes