going home

so we made our decision, after much deliberation and prayer, and we are going "home" to Ontario, Lord willing, for the new year.
many have said they are shocked by our news. guess we keep good secrets.
some have assumed we will be getting back on five planes and returning to PNG, once the surgery has been done and son has recovered.

nope.
nogat.

how can we make a choice like that, so "easily" when we told everyone we were going to Papua New Guinea to serve Him for two years? not simple.

we checked into many options, including having Grandpa fly here, pick up son, fly back with him for surgery and recovery, return him and fly back himself. this actually brought some tears to son's eyes as he realized "this is how much my family loves me"

yes ... that much and more.

so much has happened in such a short time. knife wounds have healed, friends have been made, plans have been changed.
one auntie passed away, not knowing the Lord. one uncle remains on dialysis, also not knowing the Lord.
one friend loses a child, another announces she is expecting.
dreams come and go, but the Lord remains the same.

going home.

here is an excerpt from a letter to a friend ...

Thank you for your prayers and all your support. You guys were part of a dream of ours and we will never forget that or our time here. It has been a real roller coaster of ups and downs but something I will never regret ... we leave part of our hearts here in Hoskins ... we love the people so much and will miss them incredibly. I never dreamed that I would go to the other side of the world and meet such kindred spirits, but I have, and leaving them is going to hurt a lot.

going home.

for a number of years, my husband and I noticed that our son had kind of stopped smiling. it seemed he had aquired a number of burdens and they were weighing him down. we would pray and discuss but not much changed ... until we came here. now he smiles. a lot. and he is ok with going back to canada.
so I ask you ... how could I be bitter or angry about any of this? It was completely worth it all.

going home. thank you, Lord.