I was thinking today about how I am going to say goodbye to my people here, when I know that I will be returning to Uruguay in just a few months. My natural tendency is to write letters and cards, to fill pages with words and affirmation and love in written form. Is it obvious that words of affirmation is my love language??? I started making a list of all of the people who will need cards before I leave in two weeks (really long list…) and then my mind starting jumping forward to one year from now. How will I ever say goodbye at the end of next year when I am leaving for good? When see-you-later turns into goodbye? When see-you-in-a-few-months turns into maybe-I-will-never-see-you-again-on-this-side-of-heaven? I started imagining all of the words I would have for my bestest Uruguayan friends – all of the joy I have found in them, all of the things I have learned from them, all of the hopes and dreams I have for their futures, all of the wonderful things the Lord will undoubtedly use them to accomplish, all of the unique ways I see them building the Kingdom of God here in Uruguay and around the world.
Reflecting on the last ten months, I am so humbled. I am so amazed. I am so blessed. I am so thankful for this year and for God’s provision. I am so excited to be back in the States for a little while, but also so not ready to be done in Uruguay. I am so content, so at peace with where the Lord has me. I am so ready to land in Minneapolis in two weeks, and I am so thankful that for now it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.
“And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:3-4)
