Saying Goodbye

This has to be my least favorite part of leaving. I actually enjoy packing and organizing. I can look ahead to the exciting adventure and new experiences, but it is so hard to get past the good byes. My mom never says  "goodbye." After being a missionary kid and then following my dad all over the country, she refuses to say it anymore. She instead says "see you later."

There is a sorrow in goodbye that cannot be expressed in words. Knowing that, while you may come back to this place, you are leaving this part of your life permanently. I will never again get to hold my nieces as I currently know them. Thinking, as they put their sweet, little hands on mine, that the next time they do the difference in size will not be so great. I suppose this is a lesson that every person must learn. Children do not stay the same and every moment must be cherished, because in the next their foreheads will no longer be their "two-heads" and they will no longer ask God to bless the food to the "nursery" of our bodies.

As hard as this is for us, we know that it is equally hard for our families. To ease the transition for our nieces, we bought 2 identical sets of a Mickey & Minnie. The first set we sprayed with our colognes and gave to the girls. The second set we are taking to Hungary. We told them, if they ever wanted to give us a hug, to hug Mickey or Minnie and they would send the other Mickey & Minnie the hug for us. We can also hold them while we are Skyping. I think this helps us as much as them. I've definitely stolen some hugs from Minnie.

Megan, her grandma, and her dad

Megan, Ben, the girls, and the Mickeys & Minnies

L reading to Minnie

Friday is coming very quickly and I continue to thank God that He delayed us a little bit longer and we are not leaving Wednesday as we originally hoped to do.

Do you want to know why else I am thanking God that he is not having us fly into Heathrow on Wednesday?

On November 30th more than 2 million British workers are planning a strike to advocate pension reforms. Public officials say that this could jam up airports and cause as much as 12 hour flight delays in Heathrow. They are even looking at bringing in the army to help move passengers through customs and fill in for some of the unionized workers!

This was the exact day Ben and I had hoped to leave DFW and fly to Heathrow! At the time we were booking our tickets, it was actually more expensive to fly on Wednesday than on Friday. How often does that happen? I actually toyed with the idea of paying more to get there earlier, but we finally decided that it would be best just to wait. What an amazing God! Events we could have never dreamed of take place and he STILL has us taken care of! I am so grateful that HE is in control and not ME!