We Will Miss You!!!

To all our dear family and friends who will follow our adventures,

We will miss you so very much! We've been saying many, many goodbyes recently, but especially during this past week. Goodbye to coworkers, my students, our friends, our parish, our family members, our homes where we've been comfortable all our lives...Andrew put it well while we were getting ready for a last visit with Greg and Suz, saying "this may be the last time I'll see my dad for the next nine months!" I admit that I've been thinking in these terms, but have just recently come to a full realization of their actual meaning. With all but a very small handful of goodbyes, that is the thought: "this is the last time we'll see you for nine months!"

I know that it really isn't that much time...we're kind of thinking of it as an extended work-cation. However, having lived the entirety of our young lives in relatively the same communities in the Orange County area, nine months can seem rather daunting at times.

I hope you all realize how much we truly do appreciate your support. As I've written previously, we're anticipating one of the most difficult aspects of this new journey being the lack of a visible and present community. We are, of course, ever-grateful to have each other, with God as our Leader and reliance, and a network of, well, you all, to back us up. But the thought of not seeing family, of missing the birthdays, the birthDATEs (especially of the seven babies soon to be born of seven dear friends from church), the events, the holidays, families growing older, the changes...it makes me very sad, actually! To think that we'll be missing all that.

On the other hand, we will be in Paris. But Paris, romantic as it seems, is not by any means a vacation destination for us at present. I think if we can keep a perspective of reality, with our dreams in the distance, well, I think then we'll be alright.

Please do keep in touch with us. We'll be thinking of you often! We're always an email, facebook post, phone call, blog comment, or letter away! I guess that's not so far when you think of it. I suppose we're actually blessed beyond measure to have this experience in the 21st century!