Saying Goodbye

-

How do you say goodbye to someone who has changed your life?

I have done this before, I am sure, but it’s never easy. Not the emotional aspect of it, because in this high tech world we are never more than a text or email away, but the words. . . How do you tell someone exactly what they have meant to you in a few short, tear-stained sentences?

I am a writer, not a speaker, although I do like to talk. Yet sometimes my words only flow on virtual paper, not from my mouth. Sometimes, the things I want to say simply do not make it from my mind to my mouth, but they can make it to my fingers.

Today, we bid farewell to our pastor and his wife, launching them into the tumultuous world of deputation as they at the ripe old age of “just became grandparents” head to the mission field. I do not envy them the next few years, yet I am excited for them in the many adventures and tales of God’s provision they are sure to have.

As I hugged Myra this afternoon, words failed me. So here I sit, needing to get these out of my head so I can work.

Pastor and Myra,

You know where we came from when we staggered into your church that warm August day. We were hurting, we were scared, and we were somewhat timid. You and this church welcomed us with open arms. You accepted us for who we were, not what we could do, loved our kids, and let us, no helped us, heal. For that, we will be ever in your debt. Thank you for being there for a couple of hurting "kids."

You have been there to answer questions for parents who love their girls but have no clue what we are doing. You have assured us that we are, in fact, doing a good job.

You were there for us when we went through some very scary times. Bringing babysitters when Tim’s dad was in the hospital, and even driving them home so I didn’t have to wake sleeping kids. Myra, you were there when I was at my darkest hour, holding my hand and telling me it was OK, I did the right thing, and I will see my baby again. I couldn’t have made it through November without you.

You are the first pastor (and wife) my children, or at least my oldest, will remember. And, a part of me is thrilled that they will be able to watch you on this new journey. Those girls love you.

So I say thank you for your ministry in our life. We love you, and you will be missed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Story Begins

-
Image
I am participating in a really fun project that is the brainchild of my friend Janna, who regularly blogs at The Adventure of Motherhood . Her project, entitled Mommy's Piggy Tales , encourages moms to blog about their childhood in 15 weeks. Here is the button if you want to learn more or consider joining. My dad, my mom, and me. My daughter, N, has that quilt now. Every year for Christmas my brother and I received our very own holiday ornament. Starting with the “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament, these ornaments usually reflected something we accomplished or did during the soon-to-be-past year. For example, the year I got my driver’s license, my ornament was Daffy Duck in a shiny new car. Every year we enjoyed putting “our” ornaments on the tree. It was a wonderful time to reflect back over our lives and the memories we had made. Sometimes we asked the reason behind the ornament, and learned a little more about our histories. When I married, I got a box with my ornaments in it to ...
Read more

Preschool: Life Changing Years

-
Image
I have been thinking since last week about what to write when it comes to preschool. I am participating in a fun project put on by my friend Janna at Mommy's Piggy Tales. Check it out! There are so many options. I could write about my imaginary friend, Polk-a-Roo, who I was actually a little afraid of. I could write about losing my favorite My-Little-Pony, Firefly, in the sandbox when some mean boys buried it at preschool. I could write about my only child, only grandchild years before my brother came along. I could write about my first “best friend,” the girl across the street (Klaire), who I sobbed over when it was time to move away. I could write about all of those things, but the truth is my preschool years are some of the most important of my life. See, my parents wanted me to be a “good person.” To reach that goal, they started going to church. Not long after they started attending church, something happened that would change the course of my life forever. My parents, throug...
Read more

Christmas Miracle

-
Image
Natalie was hamming it up for Tim the other night. Well, a lot has been going on in the past two months. About a month or so after the miscarriage, I was noticing something wasn't quite as it should be. I took a pregnancy test, and it came back positive. That was strange to me, because we were trying to prevent that as requested by the doctor. They called me in for blood work, and everything was indicating that I was pregnant. I was quite confused, as you can probably imagine. Two weeks ago we went in to have an ultrasound. That was eight weeks after the miscarriage. In that ultrasound they found what appeared to be a baby developing at 5 weeks gestation. We were quite perplexed, of course, because in our minds it should be about 8 weeks. The doctor asked us to come back today because at 7 weeks they should be able to see a heartbeat. The doctor said there was a good chance that there were just leftovers in there because of the earlier miscarriage, but that my numbers (hormone leve...
Read more