The thought of coming back home after being gone for a year sends so many thoughts and emotions through my mind. We’ve been to so many places, seen so many crazy things, and met so many incredible people.
My first thought is always how grateful I am to have been able to meet all of the people that I’ll one day share Heaven with. There are so many people across this globe that love Jesus with all of their heart. They’ve sacrificed in so many ways to see broken people be put back together. There are literally so many amazing faces that will forever resonate in my mind.
The next thing that runs through my mind are the many things that The Lord has done through people this year. From meeting a young boy on the streets of the Philippines and the Lord providing a way for him to get off the streets, to our host in Vietnam that has given up his life to see young children be raised in the ways of the Lord, to the amazing family in Romania that radically changed our perspective on generosity and living to see other people be transformed, to the prisoners in Zambia that lifted their hands towards Heaven and cried out in repentance… And that’s literally just a few of the many things our Lord has done this year.
And then the thought that seems to linger for a while is our community, our town, our family, and our friends back at home. I begin to think about how yalls year has been. I begin to think about the hits my community has taken this year. I think about the young man from pike county that passed away playing the game he loved and it bothers me that I wasn’t there to be there for the #dylanstrong community. I think about a boy I went to high school with that took his life and I wonder if we could have reached out if we would have been home. I think about the transition of my great grandmother going into assisted living. I think about my sister playing her first full year of middle school softball. I think about not being able to visit Neiron and grab his hand and call on Jesus to meet him in that hospital room. It all runs through my mind. Home.
But I’ll be honest, we have no regrets. We know the Lord is willing and able. This year has been amazing but we just want everyone to know that when you took these hits, it hit us too. We prayed and cried too. We missed y’all too… and we are so thankful to have such an amazing support group back home.
So, to answer the question that so many people are wondering… What will this next season of life look like?
Well, we plan to commit. Commit to what? Our town, our tribe, our people, our community, our family, our friends, our home. We’ve missed all of you and yes!! Yes, we want grab some coffee with you. Yes, we want that high schooler that is struggling to know that our house is always open to you. Yes, you will see us at that softball field cheering on Mad Dog. Yes, we want to eat our Mama’s cooking no matter what it is! Yes, we can’t wait to plug back into a church family. Yes, we’ll be at our grandparents house’s just to spend time with them, because they mean the world to us. Yes… home is our next season and we can’t wait to see what the Lord will do right there in Beautiful Butts County! God is so good, and we’ll see you all very soon!
Please don’t hesitate to hit either of us up and we can grab coffee or lunch and catch up!
See you soon, Justin and Tess.
