It’s five months into the race and all I want to do is hear my mom’s laugh. I want to sit in my dad’s old truck, the one we used to tell jokes in, for just one afternoon. I want to invade my little sister’s bed and beg her to play just one song on piano for me. I would trade days of ministry in this moment for one board game with my family. Homesickness is the kind of ache that doesn’t just fill your heart, it floods your soul. Sometimes its a soft hum and then other times its so deep it makes your bones hurt. It’s the kind of sadness that jokes and distractions just can’t cure.
Family,
I miss you. All of you; grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and pets included. I miss family holidays and camping trips and prank wars. Do ya’ll remember when Grandma Carole and Grandpa Randall were recommitting their vows and Uncle Stephen pretended he dropped their party cake? I feel like we all laughed for an hour straight after that. There are so many things about our family that make me smile. Like how everyone in our family knows that mom cheats at cards. Thats the first thing I learned after the Ten Commandments was that mom cheats. (Love ya, Mom 😉 Or how funny Chloe gets on road trips right around the fifth hour of driving-she can’t help but start singing all her songs out loud by then. And Dad, no matter what time of year it is if I want to know how many days it is till Christmas you open up an app on your phone that rings christmas bells and you tell me the countdown. And then there are the sweet things like the way Dad holds my hand when I need someone to steady me or the way mom’s hugs give me all the courage I could ever need. There’s the way Chloe’s smile can fuel my good mood for days or how I’m never happier then when Chloe tells a joke. Chloe, you’re truly the funniest girl I know. I miss the way Ava’s tail thumps the ground when she’s excited and how she’’s the only dog that ever holds my hand. There’s the fact that Christmas isn’t Christmas without my grandparents and how I missed that this year. And then there’s the fact that my Aunt, Uncles, and cousins are the reason that summer exists. Who else do you swim and fish with?
I have a few more months on the field and family, above all else I want you all to know I’m doing well. Tonight, like many others, I miss you deeply but I am still so grateful to be where I am. Jesus is here, working in my team, this community, and this country. I love our ministry; this last week we met with over 4,000 students through assemblies and we saw hundreds of salvations! I see miracles every week, healings that are unexplainable without Christ. I laugh until my ribcage hurts with my friends and I grow closer to my savior everyday. But I have learned that even on my best days I still think of you. I will always love you the most and as Valentines Day draws closer, know that you are where I’m sending all my love. There are so many stories to share between us from these last few months and I am so excited for the day where we can all sit down together again.
In about three weeks everything changes for me. I say goodbye to Impact Africa, I move to Thailand, and I rejoin the squad that I’ve been separated from for the last two months. I’m looking forward to Asia and I’ve begun to pray often for the work that the Lord wants to accomplish there. Please begin to pray with me as I prepare my heart for another change, another goodbye to the “family” I’ve formed here in South Africa. God has provided me with sisters and brothers and friends through the staff, interns, and surrounding community that I could not be more grateful for. I’m going to miss them so much when I leave but a step away from them is a step towards you and all that God has for our teams in Thailand and Myanmar these last three months.
Mom, Dad, Chloe, Ava,
A special Happy Valentines Day to you, I love you all with my whole heart. Thank you for always showing me love in deeper ways than I can even comprehend. I talk about you here often, pretty much with anyone who will listen. I could not be more proud of the family I come from or more thankful to God for giving me you. You have shaped my heart and my life, moving me always closer to the love of Christ. I’ll talk to you soon, my prayers and thoughts are always with you.
