Sunday, January 13, 2013

Sweet Sorrow

Goodbyes are not much fun, but they have been tinged with sweetness because so many of you have told us that you love us. Sweet sorrow is an oxymoron and Trudie enjoys a good oxymoron, especially when Shakespeare wrote it. It also perfectly describes the very thin line between total joy and stinging sadness that we feel as we say goodbye and prepare for hellos on the other side of the world.

This morning our church bade us farewell in what can only be described as an overwhelming, but delightful final surge of encouragement and kindness. They prayed with us and sent us out with a true sense of partnership that we will treasure.

There is not much time left. We have exciting jobs to do like preparing the car for a long holiday in the garage (I say 'we' but this one means Duncan!), tidying up after all the packing, a last hoover and closing up the bags. There are also two more goodbyes to be said to much beloved mums, but they are for tomorrow.

Everyone keeps telling us we will have an adventure and now that it is truly about to start, it looks like something close to climbing Mount Everest barefoot...but in the Bible, God says: Whether you turn to the left or to the right, I will be right behind you saying, 'This is the way - walk in it!'

And so we will.

No comments:

Post a Comment