Immeasurably More: Goodbyes are Hard

The day had finally come. In a few short hours I would say goodbye to everything I knew, climb onto the plane and head to Africa for two years. It was so surreal. It began to set in as I lay in bed with my dogs, Cookie and Ellie Mae. Soon my tears soaked their fur as I realized that they really may not be here whenever I get back. As I went through the day, throwing the last few items into my trunks, eating my last American meal, which was of course Whataburger, and hanging with my family, many tears were shed. On our way to the airport, an array of emotions flooded over me. I was sad, nervous, excited, anxious, and full of anticipation. Arriving at the airport, we were greeted with a crowd of people from the Every Village office, Hope Church, the Pierce’s family and some of my close friends. It was a very warm goodbye. Again, many tears were shed. After a wonderful corporate prayer of blessing and protection, the Pierce family and I made our way to security. The final hugs were hard, especially for my family and close friends. The image of my family and friends waving a final goodbye as I stepped past security is embedded in my mind. That was the last that I may see of some of them for the next two years. The multiple flights over the next twenty-four hours were kind of a blur. Somehow, by the grace of God, we arrived at our final destination (for a few weeks) Entebbe, Uganda, without any of us missing a connecting flight and with all twenty-five of our checked bags. It is seriously a miracle that nothing got lost! By the time we made it to our house (which all nine of us are staying in for the next few weeks) it was almost 5am. After getting our things unloaded, we all crashed for a few hours before starting our day to try to get over jet lag ASAP.

Pictures from the Airport: