A new chapter of our life is now being written.
Last week, we drove away from our home, our community, and our dearest friends to begin this grand adventure of living in our 5th wheel and traveling around the country.
The month leading up to our departure felt crazy to us. We were renovating our new home on wheels, finishing school, sorting and selling our belongings and trying to squeeze in seeing people dear to us. All in the midst of quarantine.
Emotions swirled. Sleep became minimal and to-do lists kept growing. But somehow it all happened. And here we are on the road.
But we really wouldn’t be where we are now if it weren’t for those amazing people where we came from.
The roots of our life are deep. Our family, in different cities and states, supports us and encourages us and is woven into every part of our story, no matter where home has been over the years. We may be far from them at points over the next year, but there is always the reassurance that our lives are forever connected. There is much security in this. I’m grateful. I don’t take for granted the faithfulness of our family.
The same is true of our friends. We left behind a beautiful community in Camarillo. People who have walked through the hardest parts of life with us. Who carried us when we were drowning in grief. People who prayed constantly and continually poured truth into our lives. Friends who loved us without expectation. Who have grieved the loss of Mason with us and who have continued to remember him.
I said to my kids many times over the past weeks, “It’s not easy to find such a beautiful community of people.” For my kids, it’s not just the friends their age. They also have found great friendships with people older than them. They have seen value in learning from people who can model righteous living.
And for some crazy reason, we know several young, really cool couples who actually enjoy hanging out with us. Not only does it make us feel a tad younger, my kids adore them and look up to them. This has also been true of their friends’ parents and many other people in our life. There are so many answers to prayer represented in the faces of those who would fill my home or come to my kids’ soccer games. Meet us at the beach or invite our family for dinner.
Our life has been rich. Because of the people in it.
Leaving this previous chapter is not easy.
The morning we left, a large sampling of these beautiful people came to send us off. They brought thoughtful gifts, prayed some beautiful prayers and filled our hearts with so much love.
It was an emotional day.
We don’t know if we’ll end up back in California when this adventure is over. We want to be obedient to where the Lord leads us. But there is so much hope in our future. Because saying goodbye to deep friendships in the Lord, is never really goodbye.
When I see something beautiful in nature I remind myself it’s only a sampling of what heaven holds. The same is true of people. I have known some beautiful people and my time with them on this earth is only a sampling of what we get to experience for eternity.
So we get to leave with full, and expectant hearts. A few tears, yes. The missing part is always hard. But the hope of all the Lord has in store, both here and in heaven, is deep. And full of great promise.
“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis
This is our reminder. Hanging on the wall in our new little home. When the missing is too much, we remember that God has called us to something new. And that all the good things we have to say goodbye to, are just samples of all the perfection to come.
We long for that day.
