Saying Goodbye

This post is slightly overdue, as we've been busy, and hopefully in the coming days I'll blog about our time in London and trip to Bangkok.  But first, I want to spend a few minutes sharing with you the end of our time in Carlisle.

Thursday (20 Nov) was my final day working at Langham.  They really have a great team there, and it was a privilege to join them for 8 weeks.

Thursday night Andrew and I attended our final Bible Study with the Young Adults group.  We really enjoyed the community and friendship this group provided.  One drawback to traveling almost every weekend was that we didn't have a church home - we worshiped all over the country, which was a neat experience, but we didn't form relationships with a church.  In a way, this Bible Study group became our church for a few months, and we were grateful to have that community.

Friday was Andrew's final day at OM.  I had the opportunity to join him there mid-day for a time of farewell and blessing.  It was an honor to hear the nice things they said about him and how grateful they were for the time he gave them.

Friday night, our hosts allowed us to host a final gathering with the Young Adults group - one final social get-together.  We provided the fajitas and they brought sides, desserts, and drinks.  It was a very fun night of food, games, and fellowship with some friends that became very dear to us.  This group provided the most difficult goodbyes.

Saturday morning, Vivian (one of our hosts) drove us to the train station to see us off - our final Carlisle goodbye.  We're very grateful to both Vivian and Brian for their willingness to open their home to us and share life with us these past couple of months.  They were wonderful hosts to us and for that we're thankful.

The next few days were a whirlwind in London, followed by flights to Bangkok, which brings us to today, which is Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for.  We have traveled and seen so many wonderful places, and we still have nearly two more weeks of exploring in Thailand.  We've had a variety of colds/viruses, but nothing that has stopped us from traveling, so we are thankful for health that allows us to do so much.  We are thankful for beds and showers in a variety of places, for affordable airfare, for generous support from friends and family that made this trip possible, for renters taking care of our home in our absence, for jobs waiting for our return, for friendships formed in Carlisle and for friends/family we look forward to seeing again soon, for the love and friendship we share in marriage each day, for the opportunity to spend this Thanksgiving Day with family, and for knowing that by Christmas we will be back home in Michigan.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  May you be surrounded by those you love, good food, and fellowship this day and may you recognize how rich we are to have so much for which to be thankful.