IT'S REAL!

Kenya Journal 2009

October 25, 2009

IT’S REAL!

As we’ve been heading to long-term service on the mission field, I’ve off and on said to Alene, “It’s getting REAL!” but she is quick to remind me that “IT’S ALL REAL!” Nevertheless, as I look back on this transition to mission service during this past year there were steps along the way that made it seem “even more real.”

It’s real when…

…You resign from your employment.

…People start referring to you as a “missionary.”

…You say good-byes to family and friends not knowing if you’ll see them next in

this world or in the world to come.

…People keep asking, “Aren’t you gone yet?”

…Your church commissions you for service.

…You sell your only remaining car.

…You give a good-bye pat to a dear friend’s dog.

…You say tearful good-byes to fish in your pond and birds in your yard.

…You throw away old shoes, jeans, and shirts barely suitable for yard work

anymore.

…You pack up belongings to the point of “echoing emptiness” in your home.

…You permanently change your address for mail delivery and throw away your

mailbox key.

…You sleep in your bed for the last time.

…You disable your home phone and internet access.

…You take your first dose of anti-malaria prophylaxis medication.

….There is nothing left to pack.

…The doors close to your prior home and friends drive you to the airport.

…Dear friends give hugs and wave good-bye at the airport.

…The plane takes off from Denver as you head to London and soon to Kenya.

It’s real when…

…Tears too many are shed for relationships stretched by miles and by time and are

shed in the anticipation of new relationships to come.

It’s real when…

…You know that you are held in the Lord’s hands every day.

May we always remember Dr. Ernie Steury, the first Tenwek Hospital physician 50 years ago, and his contentment to know: “The safest place to be is always in the center of God’s will.”