Taxi and Take Off

As we sit on the airplane and the stewardess is talking about safety regulations my mind begins to drift.  I think about how hard the last couple of months have been as we have had to say “bye” to so many of our friends and to a place we have called home for the last 19 years.  We begin to taxi out to the runway and my mind is flooded with so many memories.  How can we leave a place we love so very much?  The tears come as we take off and I watch Zambia disappear below the clouds.   God has us on a new adventure in East Africa that we will begin today. As we go, we take with us a full heart and a lifetime of memories. We are who we are today because of the impact these people and this place has had on our lives. We raised our children in Zambia and it is where they call “home.”  We had many years of ministry in Zambia serving alongside of other missionaries and national believers and friends.  It’s not easy to leave a place you love so very much. But I know that we go in obedience to our Lord whom we love so very much.  He has used our time in Zambia to prepare us for this next step.  We just need to continue to walk by faith day by day and trust God in all of this.   As I took pictures over the last couple of months of some of our good-byes with friends I thought I would put them together here for you to see.  Of course, to you these are just pictures but to us they represent friendships and lots of memories.  I wish I had pics of everyone but unfortunately I don’t so I'll share the ones I have.