Thy Kingdom Come

In February Kyle and I were accepted to be full term missionaries with Africa Inland Mission.  We spent a week at their current headquarters in New York and we learned many things about Africa and heard about several things that we should expect as missionaries.  We learned about how grieving becomes a large part of a missionary’s life.  When missionaries first move overseas they say goodbye to family and friends that they have known for years, they say goodbye to all things familiar and they grieve.  Then years later when they have made a home in a foreign land, grief comes again when they go back “home” to visit or to stay.  We were told from veteran missionaries that a cycle of grief can become a reality.  This is just one of the difficulties of overseas missions work, but it seems to be the one Kyle and I struggle with.  We have to get good at saying goodbye, and this is something we don’t really want to do.  How can you get good at something you don’t want to do?  But it is to this that we were called…

I do not write these things to gain pity or praise. I write them because I was reminded today of what we heard back in February.  This morning at church we were both processing feelings of grief here in Mesa.  We love our church, we love the college age people we get to life with, we love our friends and family.  This morning our hearts were grieving a bit over the friends we have in Uganda that we had to say goodbye to.  But oddly enough at the same time I look ahead to the deep grief we will feel when we say goodbye to our families and dear friends. 

And so, it seems we are stuck between grief and a sad place.  Not that life is that dismal, it is just how I am processing right now.  We are glad to be home, glad to see those that we love, glad to know that we can just drive 5 hours to see my mom and brother and other family.  We are also glad that the Lord has put on our hearts his people in Uganda and that, if he wills it, we will get to live with them as well. So, if anybody can tell us how to be in five places at once, let us know.  We are brainstorming the possibilities (yes, Kyle has it up on the white board). 

As I process these things I am grateful for the Holy Spirit who has reminded me today that the Kingdom is coming. When Jesus returns, we will not have any grief.  We will worship the Lord all together, our family in the United States and our family in Uganda, we will be together with all the saints and we will be together with Jesus. 

Speaking of when Jesus returns... with all the hype about May 21st being the day Jesus was coming back; my mom and I made a plan to find each other in heaven... it wasn't that complicated.  Basically we agreed to grab our loved ones (I grab Kyle, she grabs Chris and my grandma) and head towards Jesus, on the way, look for dad or anyone else in the family and bring them too. I know I know not that sophisticated... we also agreed it would be good to live in the same cul-de-sac in heaven, anyone who reads this blog is also invited to live on our street too, I am sure spaces will go fast.  Not sure how this will all work out, or if we will even care about these things in heaven... it is better to be safe than sorry right?