In two weeks our squad will meet at Training Camp and begin a week of preparation for our trip in January. Once there we will be divided up in to teams of 5 to 6 people. These will be the people we serve with in each country. They will also be the people who become my support system over the next 11 months. It is an important pairing of individuals. A few weeks ago I began praying specifically for our teams. I started off asking the Lord to place me with people that I wanted or who I had already met, selfish I know. Shortly after that request I realized that He has already chosen my team. He did that months ago. He knew when I said yes to this journey who I would need to support me and love me along the way. He also knew who would need me in their life. I knew He had already taken care of all of those details and with that came peace. A peace that only He could provide. I was no longer hoping for a certain person or group of people. Yes, that would be ideal but nothing about this journey is going to be ideal or go my way.
Speaking of……this week has been full of changes and unexpected goodbyes. Earlier this week we received an email asking for 9 of our ladies to consider switching routes, in order to even other squads out. I read the email and felt nothing. There was no desire to switch routes for me whatsoever. However, several of my squad mates felt a tug on their heart to switch. After much prayer and consideration the goodbyes began rolling in. It seemed like wave after wave was crashing in on my beloved P Squad. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad. I was so excited to share life with these people. They had prayed for me, we had connected, and I was excited to learn about their lives. With each goodbye my heart sank a little deeper. I was never upset they had chosen to switch because they were being obedient to the tug God had placed on their heart. They had prayerfully considered the switch, it was no rash decision on their part. So with each goodbye that came I reminded myself that God has a plan. I reminded myself that He knew changes needed to happen, people needed to switch, and He knew their hearts were longing for a different route.
Goodbyes are hard, especially when they are unexpected and sudden. Then it dawned on me that we are all entering a season of goodbyes. Come January we will all be saying goodbye to our loved ones, our jobs, our friends, small groups, churches, community, etc. This is no “see ya later” it is goodbye for 11 whole months. We will be entering a new country each month, embracing people with the love of Jesus Christ and at the end of that month we will have to say goodbye. We will fall in love with people each and every month. We will create friendships and bonds with people who we will have to leave behind. One of my squad mates said it perfectly “He is refining us through this process.” This next year is going to be a refining process for all of us. Saying goodbye to our friends was hard but thankfully we get to see several of them in two weeks. To those of you who switched, we are so happy and excited for you! We can’t wait to see how the Lord uses this “switch” to refine you as well!
He is going to bless us abundantly over this next year but He is also going to break our hearts for His people. It will be a challenging year full of growth but I am so excited I get to share it with the people of P Squad!! I am proud of us for handling all of these changes with grace and love. I can’t wait to see how He is going to bless us during our time together!
