To everyone reading this, I want to tell you two things:
1. I LOVE YOU. I love you, I love you, I love you. (Yeah, yeah this is a mass post directed at a bunch of individuals…so while I’m saying “I love you” to everyone, just know I love you all in very different, very unique ways. So, this post isn’t as general as you might think.) I love that you are in my life, and have impacted it. I love that you are praying for me, and team lovebound. I love that you are supporting me in this journey in a million different ways. I love that you are a part of my life that God has given to me as a gift. A pure gift. I love you. I really do.
2. THANK YOU! Thank you for being a part of my life, for speaking into it, for helping to guide me and teach me. Thank you for pouring love into me, pushing me forward as a man, encouraging me to seek our God. Thank you for caring about me enough to pray. Thank you for being patient with me as I learn. Thank you for partnering with me in this upcoming year. (It is happening because of you.) Thank you for loving me for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you have done, do and will do for me. You are fantastic, and I am so thankful for the gift of your friendship, or familyship, or both!
I say these things because I want you to know I will miss you. I will miss what you bring to my life. I will think about you and wonder about you. I will pray for you while I’m gone. But most importantly, I will be wondering if you have any idea how much my life is enriched by you. By YOU. You make life richer, deeper and a lot more fun and worthwhile. While I’m gone, I know I’ll often wonder if you have any idea of the impact you have made in my life in a very real, very awesome way.
I know I’ll wonder about this, because I wonder about it now. A lot. So please know God has used you to better my life, and I wouldn’t be in the place I am with God without you. He has used you to draw me closer to Him. To learn more about His life and His love. I can never thank you enough for my relationship with you.
I also want to share this with you, because for the past two weeks I’ve been fairly sad about leaving. I’ve been super reflective about life here, and why it was I wanted to leave it all in the first place. Basically, I have been homesick and slightly reluctant to leave.
But no more. Sunday God just spoke to me through folks at church, and reminded me how excited He is for what is to come. 
He reminded me how thrilled He is for us to discover everything hidden, everything we couldn’t plan for, every treasure that’s awaiting us this year. And my heart began to come back to life at the idea of the adventure ahead. So my time of being sad is over. I’m looking forward baby!
I can’t wait to head into Guatemala, and take the first steps of an incredible year. So, if I don’t seem so sad to leave, please know it’s because my heart is thrilled at what is to come, and has come to terms that it will cost me leaving you for awhile. So yes, I will miss you. Desperately I imagine. But my hope is that my life here is worth walking away from, for this year anyway, in the pursuit of discovering more of my God and His kingdom!
I love you! I love you! I love you! And I can never thank you enough for all of your contributions to my life, my relationship with Jesus and everything you have and are pouring into this year. Thank you! Thank you!!
