Bittersweet Thoughts

So, the time has come and I can hardly believe it. We are DONE with New Tribes Training! For the last five years, one or both of us, have been involved in training for tribal church planting. We have been everywhere from the "barren wasteland" (j/k) of Wisconsin where the staple diet consists of brats and frozen custard,  and it is a normal thing to see houses painted bright green and yellow with giant Packer football helmets proudly displayed on the side....to the beautiful wooded mountains of Pennsylvania where we have wonderful memories of living for a time in a plastic covered house on the side of a mountain with a bucket shower, long walks to the outhouse, and glop for breakfast every morning....then to the Ozarks of Missouri, where the lake is practically right out your front door, the highlight of a trip to town is Wal-mart and McDonald's, and where in the summer you are bombarded in that same Wal-mart by people in their bikinis buying cartloads of beer for their parties on the lake.  Tim and I have had several discussions lately about the bittersweet feeling of leaving this place, the Missionary Training Center in Roach, and the final phase of our training. Here are some of the thoughts that I have had lately that I thought I would share with you about the things we are leaving behind....

What I will NOT miss.....

• Having to lug two overloaded baskets of laundry to the wash house where I then attempt to get everything washed and dried without going over my allotted time....and also hoping that I can run back and forth from the house while also attempting to take care of the boys. (Sometimes I am sure this is has to be impossible, but somehow it works. Thank goodness for Mondays and Sheila!)
  
• Getting to walk, again to the wash house, to take my shower. In summer it is a hot, sticky shower in the company of many varieties of bugs and it the winter it is often a cold/cool shower and if we are lucky we get to walk through snow and ice to get there!
• Living in the Ozarks. I know it is a tourist hot spot, but....
• Going to class and having homework for the last five years.
• Being able to sit in my bedroom and clearly hear my neighbors using the bathroom. (Don't worry Dylan and Angie, I only noticed this a couple neighbors ago.) :)

What I WILL miss....

• Being able to do all my laundry in two hours instead of one load at a time and it taking all day!
• I am having a hard time thinking about what I will miss about the shower, but at least I come back clean! Maybe the fact that at times I get to talk with a friend in the neighboring stall while we take our showers. I am always up for a chance to socialize!
• Being able to walk out our front door and take a walk in God's beautiful creation!
• Going to class and learning SO much from many people that I really admire. I will miss the discipleship I experienced this year especially. 
• Having wonderful friends right outside my door at all times! We can put the kids to bed and just take our baby monitor with us to our friend's houses because they live so close. I think this is the thing that Tim and I will miss the most. We are ending this training in the company of friends with whom we have traveled the country, gone through many trials, had our thinking challenged in many areas, served each other when we were hurting, prayed together, and worked together, etc. So many dear friends that I may never see again or at least for a very long time! We will leave this place and go off to the many different corners of the world. It has been difficult not to become discouraged about the many friendships we have made and then had to leave over the years, but I have been challenged to be thankful for friendship for the time that it is given instead of becoming resentful when it is taken away. I can spend all my energy resenting it or focus on continuing those relationship from a distance and to pour into the lives of those that come across my path. 

It is exciting and nerve-wracking to think that when we pull out of here in just a few days with all of our earthly belongings, we will be New Tribes Missionaries! We will be shifting our energies to building prayer and financial support for the ministry we hope to have with tribal people in Papua New Guinea. It seemed that this time would never come, yet here it is. This move has been harder for us than all the rest as it feels like the beginning of letting go. Letting go of all we have known and come to love. Letting go of the many people in our lives that we would love to to be close to instead of halfway around the world. What an encouragement to look back and see how faithful God has been to provide each step of the way and we know that He will continue to be faithful. The phrase from a well known hymn keeps going through my mind, and that is..."It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!"

The view on our walks around campus!