Transitions

Transitions. They happen to all of us, but some of us seem to be gifted with more of them than other people. Moving to a new house is a big transition. Moving to a new town is bigger yet. Transitions bring with them lots of opportunities to grow, change, and live by faith. I think this is true primarily because life feels out of control when we are in transition.

Our current transition includes a few facets, each of them challenging: Garry's job is changing, Kevin is a senior this year and making major decisions, and we're moving halfway around the globe. Join us in this journey as we see God prove Himself faithful and sufficient in the midst of monumental change!

This transition began in May when we started tearing the house apart and packing up. Decisions about what to keep here, what to send to Canada, and what to sell or give away were mostly easy. However, there are always items that are hard to decide on. What does this mean to me? Will I use this when it's winter half the year? Is this worth the space it will take in the crate, or should I leave it behind?

We moved out of our house the middle of June and left Malaybalay the end of the month. We'd lived in Malaybalay for nearly 3 years, and it was hard to say goodbye to friends, favorite places and activities, and leave our dog behind. 

Now we are in Palawan, repeating part of the process as we say goodbye to friends we've known since we arrived in the Philippines nearly 7 years ago. Though we haven't lived here for the past 3 years, we've been back several times and maintain a lot of connections. Puerto Princesa has a lot of special memories for us as a family, and it's hard to think of leaving here.

Next week we head to Manila to repeat the process there. We have many friends in the badminton community as well as missionary friends there. There are several places that we've visited several times a year for the past 7 years. Memories, connections.

Goodbye. See you later. I hope I come back some day. I'm really tired of saying those words. In fact, we are all getting tired of saying goodbye. Even as members of the same family, we respond differently to the sadness of saying goodbye. We experience the changes differently. We feel various "lasts" differently. But one thing is common-- it's hard.

As we walk through these realities, we are reminded once more that heaven is our true home. We are encouraged to know that God never wastes any pain that comes into our lives. We are blessed to be reminded how many friends and memories we've made over the past 7 years. We are thankful for the incredible experiences we've had here in the Philippines, seeing God do far beyond what we could have imagined. We are glad to know we have friends and family waiting for us on the other side of the globe. We are blessed by the constant assurance that God has good plans for us. We are humbled by how far God has brought us and the things He has done in our lives.