It was American author and historian Washington Irving that said, “Sweet is the memory of distant friends!  Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.”  Oh, how I wish I could express my thoughts so eloquently.

In a few days our family will pack the last boxes onto the moving truck and start a new ministry.  This move will be bitter/sweet.  Sweet because we are so excited about our new church and know that we’re living in obedience.  Bitter because God has blessed us with many friends that we will greatly miss. In the journey of life it seemed as though I’ve passed by this place but for a moment yet I have not gone untouched and my prayer is that my life has touched others as well.   It’s never easy to move and leave behind dear friends yet it is in the leaving that we have hope of meeting again.  For it is in the meeting again that makes those moments even more precious.   So I will not cry because this journey is over; I’ll smile because it happened.