Goodbyes . . .

are definitely one of the hardest things about missionary life. "Oh, you'll get really good at saying goodbye," is something we've been told many times over the last two years. I'll never forget those last few days in SC in August. It was a roller coaster of emotion. So many people stopped by in those last few days to say their goodbyes. We told our mothers and the kids' grandmothers goodbye. Then, the group who came to the airport. . . oh, it was so, so hard saying all of those goodbyes. On the other hand, I was also excited to be going on to this next step in God's plan for our lives.

In the first trimester, we said goodbye to several families we had really enjoyed getting to know, and to our big sister, Lynda Gregg, with whom we will serve in the near future in Honduras.

This trimester, we have had more time to settle in and get to know people. The goodbyes have been much harder I guess because we have had more time here. I have discovered in myself this feeling of wanting to hold back in my relationships here in Costa Rica because I know our time here is short, but I have also been encouraged by friends not to do that, that I need these relationships, and if it hurts when we part, well, that just means we have loved and have been loved. During one goodbye party recently, I overheard two friends saying to one another with smiles on their faces that they would next see each other in heaven. They are serving in two distant countries, thousands of miles apart, and come from far away locations in the US, so they knew they would never see each other again this side of heaven.

In language school, we spend four - six hours a day with four or five people during a trimester. We struggle through the language together day in and day out. We know when our classmates' children are sick, or when they have received news from home, or a package; we know when someone in our classmates' family has a birthday, and generally we are there to help celebrate it. We know when someone has family coming from the States and what they're going to do when they're here.

As we practice our Spanish in class, we are encouraged to share likes and dislikes, and personal stories or "anecdotas" as they call them, so we know many of the funny stories and/or trials from each others' lives. We have shared our testimonies and the call God has given us, also the vision for ministry He has given us.

All of us are going through the same things together here, which is a great thing. We all lean on each other. We also realize that when we leave here and get to our fields of service, there will not be this close network that we have enjoyed this year. I am elated that our friendships here and at home will be able to continue on in this age of Skype and internet and Vonage.



Fellow BMDMI missionaries Kevin and Julie McKenzie, at our Thanksgiving feast. They left before Easter for Honduras, where they will serve at our mission's children's home. I enjoyed Julie standing outside my lenguaje classroom with her cup of coffee doing a little dance most mornings.


Darlynne and Angela (in the orange shirt) saying goodbye. Angie will be beginning studies at Moody Bible Institute in the States in the fall. Darlynne will be here for another trimester.


Saying goodbye to Steve and Diane Wilson, friends now serving a hospital in Ecuador



Saying goodbye to Sierra Ensley, in the green shirt. She is now serving in Argentina. Sierra is from NC and is part Cherokee. She came over the night before she left for Argentina and regaled all of us with information on the Cherokee people.


Lynda Gregg with the kids and me, in the fall at Parque La Paz


Grace & Daniel, friends of Timothy and Luke, whose family are missionaries here in Costa Rica. They left in April to go on furlough to Venezuela, Colombia, and the US.