thank you.

It is very weird to pack up and leave your daily lives for two months. It is a very odd process that requires different ways of thinking and new perspectives. This past trip went really well, and that’s something we don’t always say at the end of these little excursions. They are difficult, but we are learning. As I continue to process, look over pictures with family, re-stock my kitchen, and try to re-adjust to the rat that just crawled past my lunch table, I’m really thankful.

So here are some thank yous I want to send out–perhaps to you, perhaps to another friend, perhaps to the greater Church, and perhaps just into the void.

Thank you for giving to us month after month! It is so incredible to know this, to receive it each month. I would never have chosen it for our lives, but I can see how good God has been in having us walk this road. Thank you for giving so faithfully, even when you might be wanting to send your kids to a different school or purchase those new shoes or move from your apartment into a house or enjoy a dinner out. Being stateside gives us a picture into these sacrifices, and it really makes me want to shout Thank you! from the rooftops.

Thank you to the many people who took time away to greet us; to sit with us, to listen to our stories, and to summarize your own life into a coffee or lunch date.

Thank you to the countless people who treated us to these coffees or lunches or dinners, from the random man we didn’t know at the airport to our parents home-cooked meals. Thank you for blessing us. We never know if our little budget that we live on here will make it in America, and because of you, it did. Thank you.

Thank you to those that that we saw for just one little meal or one little greeting. Thank you for understanding that our lives are crazy.

And to all the people and cities and states we didn’t get to see, thank you for understanding that, too.

Thank you for the many people who were understanding even when we sounded crazy or said something ridiculous.
Thank you to those who shared clothes and houses and cars with us!  A special thank you for all the extra blankets and fires. It is humbling to see people be so gracious and generous, and we just want to say thank you.

Thank you to those who made us laugh.

Thank you to the many, many people who came to celebrate my Dad for his epic 60th birthday, sharing kind words and big laughs! I will cherish that evening–and my epic dad!–for the rest of my life.

Thank you for the worship songs in a number of different churches, sometimes over crazy loud speakers with dry ice and other times with just a guitar. Thank you. It was cherished.

Thank you for the gift cards that gave us a date night out, a cup of coffee, a lovely play!, new headphones, and cute little pair of shoes. Thank you.

Thank you for asking us difficult questions and letting us ask difficult questions.

Thank you, Every Nation, for being a great blessing to us! Thank you for enabling us to live here and holding us accountable to what God has called us to.

Thank you for praying for us.

Thank you for advising us. We have so many people that met with us to give encouragement and advice and wisdom. It is still being mulled over and prayed over and put into action.

I am simply reveling. I am so thankful to see God provide, to see His goodness, to remember the conversations and road trips and stories. And so we’re giving thanks!

Thank you.