It’s been over two weeks since we said goodbye to my parents
after their visit to our beloved country, but I’m still trying to process our
many adventures and encounters to share with friends.
I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to describe
their trip, which could only be called a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Oh, I
feel sure they’ll make another trip here sometime in the future, but it’s not
likely we’ll have as many “that’s the first time I ever did that” moments like
we did this go ‘round.
My mother and father rode in taxis, on elephants, in ox
carts, in tri-shaws and rickshaws and clinging for dear-life on the back of
Thai motorcycles. They tried foods they had never heard of or imagined. They
saw pigs being slaughtered for dinner, women carrying huge packages on their
heads, men riding on the tops and sides of overloaded buses and golden pagodas
everywhere. They saw potatoes peeled with spoons, meals cooked over an
open-fire and foods being eaten that were never intended for digestion. They
toured places of great wealth and were saddened by areas of extreme poverty.
They shopped; they toured; they played; and all of it done in the midst of some
quality family time.
It was truly awesome.
The time we had together went by too fast, and as expected,
the hardest part is always saying goodbye.
This lifestyle we lead – one in which we try to follow the
Father’s leading – has been full of both blessings and challenges. And when I
try to overcome the sadness that comes from being separated from our families
for so long, I recall that life on this earth is so short. It’s like the dew
that vanishes in the morning sun.
Eternity, however, is forever.
FOREVER AND FOREVER…
It’s so much more important to ensure that our “forever” is
secured and that those who have never heard receive the message of saving grace
freely given by the author and creator of our lives.
So as difficult as it is living on the other side of the
world from the family and friends that we love so much, we know this is where
we need to be.
So we press on…
For those who helped make my parents’ trip here possible, I
don’t know what to say but, “Thank you!”
For those of you who sent us cards and handwritten letters
and pictures, you made us feel loved like you wouldn’t believe.
For those of you who prayed and continue to pray for us and
for our families, it is our hope that Father will bless you many times over.
