A Sad Farewell

     These past few weeks have been a whirlwind. We packed up our truck and trailer to haul all our belongings back, we shipped our car, we sold our house. Everything is coming together. In fact, we leave today to begin our 12 day journey to Colorado. Many miles, via land and sea, will be traveled, and we appreciate any prayers that are offered to the Father on our behalf. With all that is going on, my brain is far from thinking straight, but I still wanted to jot a quick note one last time from Alaska.
    Often times, when I mention how fast Kaylee is growing and how it already hurts to think of her growing up and leaving us, Brandon says something like "Yes, but then we will know we have done our job." As parents, one of our goals is to prepare our children for life on their own. It starts early. And as my mother-in-love just mentioned the other day, sometimes it may seem like you've done "Too good of a job teaching them to be independent." (She speaks as a mother who, at one point, had a daugher in New Zealand and a son in Alaska).
      But even though it is hard, I can speak from experience, that it is good to spread your wings and fly. It's been a year of much growth and learning. I think our time in Alaska was an integral season for our family as we begin trying to figure out what values we want to pass on to Kaylee and how to begin shaping our family in the way it should go. Honestly, I cannot believe how many little moments have been apart of just one year. It's unreal to think of all the things we have journeyed through and experienced, which I think is what makes it extra hard.
     And as a dear friend said as we tried to hold back tears during our last evening together, "Love just hurts so bad." We love the people here and our hearts ache as we say goodbye. But even in the midst of saying goodbye, we, ourselves, have felt so loved. Acts of love and kindness have been almost constant in the midst of our moving chaos. From friends spending hours helping us pack and clean, to goodie bags being delivered for our long trip south, to coworkers showing up and sharing kind words at Brandon's farewell, to teens making an extra effort to say one final goodbye. Love has been poured out and for that, we are so overwhelmingly thankful. So many faces and friendships will forever be in our hearts, and our hope is that this is not goodbye, but until we meet again.