Summer is a high turnover time in the missionary community, and this summer was no exception. In the last two months I have said goodbye to three summer interns, four missionaries in Montellano, two Kids Alive missionaries, and my dear roommate Lauren. Wow. I have also said (more temporary ) goodbyes to my sister Molly, who was here for the summer and to several people who will be back in a few months. In less than two months I will say goodbye to another two Makarios missionaries.
Goodbyes (despedidas) mean parties. We threw four goodbye parties for Lauren - with our church, with our ladies' Bible study, with our Dominican friends, and with the Mak staff/Montellano gringos. Lauren and I also took a goodbye vacation to Santo Domingo for a long weekend and had a final roommate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Amidst all that, however, the strongest feeling we had was of gratefulness and amazement - God has done incredible things for us here in providing community. Instead of sadness, we were struck by the ways God has blessed us here. Even as I returned home to an empty apartment after Lauren left, I walked in the door and was overwhelmed by the truth that God is good. That's one of the foundational spiritual principles we studied at missionary training, and I have clung to it this summer. And now, a few hours after taking Molly to the airport to return to the US, I am still clinging. Even if I don't feel it in the moment, I will declare God's goodness to me, and I will praise him for whatever it is that he is doing to my life this summer!
I don't have much insight yet into how God will use all these goodbyes. Right now they mostly feel hard. My home, which is more a group of people than an apartment, is now scattered across the US and the DR. I will have a new roommate soon, but home, my place of stability and security, is changing. I have to trust that God, as my unchanging Rock, will continue to be where I find my true home. I also have to trust that my will is often not God's will, and that his will is always better.
A scripture that I have read and reread the last few weeks is Psalm 116:7 - "Be at rest once more, oh my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Rest. Peace. God's goodness. Pray with me that I will return to my rest, and that I will find that rest only in the Lord.
A song that I have listened to over and over: Thy Mercy, My God by Sandra McCracken. Listen to it and read the lyrics here.
I'll leave you with some pictures from the goodbyes, too, because a lot of fun memories have been made! (And because blog without pictures is boring, right?) Clockwise from the top left: Lauren with the Dominican Makarios staff; our last beach day together; roommate goodbye dinner (which we had despite a national transportation strike!); goodbye party with church friends; Molly and I enjoying our sister goodbye night at a resort; Lauren and I enjoying an audio tour of a colonial fort in Santo Domingo; snorkeling together with the underwater camera!
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