Yesterday Andrew & I said goodbye to our sending church, Park Cities Presbyterian Church, in Dallas. We have so many friends and pastors we absolutely adore there and will miss it DEARLY – the fellowship, the teaching, the worship, the ministries. So many people have helped us get to where we are now, and we felt so blessed by their presence in our lives this last year as we went through this missions process of applying, itinerating, and preparing to go.
We were able to speak in the service yesterday for our official “commissioning”, in front of the entire congregation at 2 services. What a privilege! (A scary privilege, but after speaking earlier this year in front of thousands of members and many times these past several months, we’re getting accustomed!) Our parents came in, Andrew’s sister Bethany flew in from DC, and of course, our Dallasite brother & sister-in-law, Erin & Aaron, attended as well. It was amazing to look out at a sea of faces and know these people are praying for us, supporting us, encouraging us, and are living as Christ’s body and extension of His kingdom in Dallas – and to the world.
It was a fun visit but the goodbyes were difficult and emotional. We said our last face-to-face goodbyes to Andrew’s parents, Aaron & Erin, and Bethany. Please pray for us as we still reluctantly face two more weeks of these emotional and often stressful farewells. We know this is a necessary part of leaving, but it is turning out to be harder than we imagined.
