FIVE YEARS

A lot happens in five years. In five years a child goes through elementary school. In five years the Olympics can come and go twice. In five years, children can be born, weddings attended, funerals mourned, vacations spent, homes moved in and out of, rooms painted and furniture bought and sold. Friends can be made and relationships can grow into deep, loving family. Five years can seem like a long time, but when five years come to an end, it seems like no time at all.

Five years, when looking back, flew by before we had the chance to realize what was happening. As tears well up in my eyes, I realize that the pain I'm experiencing is because in five years, one major thing has happened. I have fallen in love with a place I call home. A group of people I call family. A church I love more dearly than I could have ever imagined.

I remember clearly the day I was driving down a windy West Virginia road, knowing change was coming but uncertain of the future. On that day, I determined that even if the grass wasn't greener wherever we ended up, that I was willing because I knew God was in it. At that point, I had no idea God was preparing for me a place to call home. A place that I never once have found myself saying I didn't love. I can honestly say that Roanoke, VA and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church was "love at first sight".

The pain I'm feeling isn't easily described as a fear of the unknown or an anxiety about the trials to come. This pain stems from a deep love for the people we leave behind. The people we call family. The lifelong friendships we've made that we don't want to say goodbye to.

I can joke all I want to about starting another Sunday School class on the other side of the world, but the truth is that five years has come and gone and I never imagined I would have to say goodbye so soon. I can't say we were just starting to get comfy, because truthfully we've been at home here since day one. That's what hurts so badly.

I'm confident that the future is bright because I'm confident that God is calling. That confidence has never wavered. I can even rest assured that the five years here was not wasted time. I'm thankful for that. In these five years, we've invested and been invested into, we've made more life long friends than one person deserves to have, we've seen God change lives including our own, we've seen trials be resolved, prayers be answered, kids grow into teens and teens grow into young adults.

Often, I wish I had one more year to soak in the memories, but I know that that would only leave me wishing for one more and then one more...

I don't have any clue what the future holds, all I know is that as we follow God's calling, we simply can't go wrong, no matter how badly it hurts at times.