Goodbye and Hello

How do you describe the sadness of goodbye coupled with the excitement of new beginnings? This very range of emotions is what my family is experiencing right now.

After four and a half years preaching for the Midway church of Christ we have all made some very close friends. These are the kind of friends you can depend on, the people you can lean on when times get tough. Leaving friends like this is scary. You don't leave friends like this without a lot of prayer and reflection. When it comes down to it, these people aren't just friends, they are family.

So how is it that we can possibly be excited about leaving family? The answer lies in the question. You see, we're not leaving family for something unknown, we are leaving family and moving to family. It's like the song we sing, "We're part of the family thats been born again, part of the family whose love knows no end."

To me the family aspect of following Christ is the greatest earthly blessing God could ever give.

Sure, there is excitement simply because I'm moving on to something new. There is also excitement about "coming home" to Waynesboro. But when I sit down and think about what God has laid before me it's all I can do to contain myself.

I have been given the charge to work with and build up families; to help other parents, like Sheryl and I, navigate their families through the mine field of society and come out on the other side spiritually stronger.

It is a big task, but I serve an even bigger God and he is able to sustain me.