"We Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God"
The word that God continues to remind me lately is: Trust.
When I first came on staff at RVA I was signed up to have meals with 5 families. This is RVAs way of helping new people get to know others quickly. It was a little hard to have meals with 5 new families while being jet-lagged that first week, but I will never forget my meal with the then Superintendent and his wife. The superintendent was the one who have hired me and I was already impressed with his caring heart and wisdom. Their house was so nice, which was a change after coming from Madagascar, but the thing that sticks out to me the most was the other family they invited to join us. The F-family were also at the meal. At the time it was the husband - whose job is the same as what my dad does at WBC, his wife, their 6th grade daughter and their 2 year old. K (the wife) must have been pregnant, but I don't remember. I was impressed with their 6th grade daughter, at how grown up she was when talking to adults. I had been told that MKs are typically better with adults than others their same age. I also remember getting along with K right away. We talked about her experience coming to Kenya and compared notes about how different it is to live outside the US.
What I didn't know at the time was that the F-family were my back-door neighbors. Quickly, I began to get to know them, whether it was because I would walk up to borrow something or because they would invite me to join them for different things. I will never forget that they invited me to be a part of RVAs scheduled "family night". The first Friday night of each new term is "family night." I put it in parenthesizes because "family night" at RVA means the dorms hang out together for a special get together after the first week of school. The goal is for the dorm kids to be encouraged that they have a family on campus in their dorm siblings and dorm parents even though they are far way from their real families. The F-family had been dorm parents on campus their first year at RVA, since K was having a baby they didn't elect to continue as dorm parents, but they knew to invite me to "family night" as a single who didn't have a family on campus yet.
It was things like that that made the F-family my RVA family. After they put in an outdoor pizza oven they invited me every Wednesday night regardless of who else was coming too.
This last year when I moved to the other side of campus I continued to stop by the F-family just to catch up and hang out with their family. After a while they started inviting me every night for dinner. Then, about 6 months ago they realized that God was calling their family to North Africa. As their move became more definite I remember asking K, "how can I show you love as you get ready to leave?" She said, "don't stop coming over just because it will be harder when we're finally gone." I had asked the question and I was so glad she was honest. We both knew it would be hard to say go bye on the last day, but I'm glad that she encouraged me to maintain the friendship.
These last few weeks have been good and hard. I have been able to help with their downsizing, and continue to hang out with their wonderful little ones. They have been good friends over VAC when many others have been traveling. There have been so many times I have thanked them for letting me be part of a family and so many times they have introduced me to their visitors as ones of their family members. It's amazing that in 2 years I have gotten so close to people I didn't know two years before, but I think that's how it is when you live away from your real family and away from the comforts of the States. You need people even more out here.
On the F-families last day on campus I stopped by the Superintendents house for something and lo and behold the F-family was having brunch. The circle was complete. I met the F-family in that house and on their last day on campus we were together in that house again. After lunch I stopped at their house just to hang out one last time. It was so wonderful to sit in their empty house with them, their middle daughter on my lap and just hanging out while they waited for their ride to the airport. It wasn't anything special, it was just life with them, just like it had always been.
The truth is, they are moving to a CAN, so I may not get to talk to them or hear from them much. I may never see them again. It's not just "talk to you later, or keep me posted."It's a real "goodbye."
I had shared my sadness with my dad in an email yesterday. While checking my email this morning my dad expressed his prayer for me during this hard time of loosing dear friends. He also shared his devotional about trusting God. I couldn't help but cry a little at God's message of trust in the midst of my sadness. It is easy to have fear while loosing people I have come to trust, people I could be real with. God used my dad, whom I trust, to point me to Himself and the trust I can have in Him. God has been with me wherever I am. He knows what I need and He knows my heart of sadness for loosing such good friends. He knows my fear of not having people on campus like the F-families and the whole that leaves in my heart, but in my sadness, God said, "I am still with and that won't ever change. Trust me with everything you have in front of you. I promise it will be okay."
Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
I am loved by a great God!
When I first came on staff at RVA I was signed up to have meals with 5 families. This is RVAs way of helping new people get to know others quickly. It was a little hard to have meals with 5 new families while being jet-lagged that first week, but I will never forget my meal with the then Superintendent and his wife. The superintendent was the one who have hired me and I was already impressed with his caring heart and wisdom. Their house was so nice, which was a change after coming from Madagascar, but the thing that sticks out to me the most was the other family they invited to join us. The F-family were also at the meal. At the time it was the husband - whose job is the same as what my dad does at WBC, his wife, their 6th grade daughter and their 2 year old. K (the wife) must have been pregnant, but I don't remember. I was impressed with their 6th grade daughter, at how grown up she was when talking to adults. I had been told that MKs are typically better with adults than others their same age. I also remember getting along with K right away. We talked about her experience coming to Kenya and compared notes about how different it is to live outside the US.
What I didn't know at the time was that the F-family were my back-door neighbors. Quickly, I began to get to know them, whether it was because I would walk up to borrow something or because they would invite me to join them for different things. I will never forget that they invited me to be a part of RVAs scheduled "family night". The first Friday night of each new term is "family night." I put it in parenthesizes because "family night" at RVA means the dorms hang out together for a special get together after the first week of school. The goal is for the dorm kids to be encouraged that they have a family on campus in their dorm siblings and dorm parents even though they are far way from their real families. The F-family had been dorm parents on campus their first year at RVA, since K was having a baby they didn't elect to continue as dorm parents, but they knew to invite me to "family night" as a single who didn't have a family on campus yet.
It was things like that that made the F-family my RVA family. After they put in an outdoor pizza oven they invited me every Wednesday night regardless of who else was coming too.
This last year when I moved to the other side of campus I continued to stop by the F-family just to catch up and hang out with their family. After a while they started inviting me every night for dinner. Then, about 6 months ago they realized that God was calling their family to North Africa. As their move became more definite I remember asking K, "how can I show you love as you get ready to leave?" She said, "don't stop coming over just because it will be harder when we're finally gone." I had asked the question and I was so glad she was honest. We both knew it would be hard to say go bye on the last day, but I'm glad that she encouraged me to maintain the friendship.
These last few weeks have been good and hard. I have been able to help with their downsizing, and continue to hang out with their wonderful little ones. They have been good friends over VAC when many others have been traveling. There have been so many times I have thanked them for letting me be part of a family and so many times they have introduced me to their visitors as ones of their family members. It's amazing that in 2 years I have gotten so close to people I didn't know two years before, but I think that's how it is when you live away from your real family and away from the comforts of the States. You need people even more out here.
On the F-families last day on campus I stopped by the Superintendents house for something and lo and behold the F-family was having brunch. The circle was complete. I met the F-family in that house and on their last day on campus we were together in that house again. After lunch I stopped at their house just to hang out one last time. It was so wonderful to sit in their empty house with them, their middle daughter on my lap and just hanging out while they waited for their ride to the airport. It wasn't anything special, it was just life with them, just like it had always been.
The truth is, they are moving to a CAN, so I may not get to talk to them or hear from them much. I may never see them again. It's not just "talk to you later, or keep me posted."It's a real "goodbye."
I had shared my sadness with my dad in an email yesterday. While checking my email this morning my dad expressed his prayer for me during this hard time of loosing dear friends. He also shared his devotional about trusting God. I couldn't help but cry a little at God's message of trust in the midst of my sadness. It is easy to have fear while loosing people I have come to trust, people I could be real with. God used my dad, whom I trust, to point me to Himself and the trust I can have in Him. God has been with me wherever I am. He knows what I need and He knows my heart of sadness for loosing such good friends. He knows my fear of not having people on campus like the F-families and the whole that leaves in my heart, but in my sadness, God said, "I am still with and that won't ever change. Trust me with everything you have in front of you. I promise it will be okay."
Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
I am loved by a great God!
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