Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A Week of "Goodbyes" and "Hellos"


I posted this quote (author unknown) on my Facebook profile this week “Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will”.
There have been so many mixed feelings this week:
I think that one of the interesting parts of life here in Thailand is going to be getting used to living in a missionary community.  We will continuously have people transitioning in and out of our lives as they come and then go back home.  Just this week we have several families going back to their homes for two-months furlough as well as another one of the beautiful women here, Auntie Joyce (or AJ as she has been fondly named) returning to America indefinitely.   I’ll write more about AJ in a minute (pictured below, teaching a dance class at ZOE Children's Home).

I am feeling excited about our short trip back to Australia and giving away some of these hugs that I’ve saved up.  I will endeavor to make the most of each second I get with my family and friends and then muster up every bit of strength to say  “good bye” again.
Also this week our very special friend Jessica, who has been house-sitting next door, has moved in to her new house.  And whilst I am SO HAPPY for her- she’s found the perfect little house and she is desperate to unpack and settle after being in transit for so long; selfishly I am also feeling quite sad.  I know she is just a drive away but I think I drew a lot of comfort knowing that she was so close.  She has been our rock since we arrived and Dave and I will be forever grateful for all she has done to help our family settle in here.  Thanks Jess, we love you! 
On a more positive note, Greg and Nancy who actually live next door will be returning soon with their two small boys (and play mates).  I am really looking forward to meeting Nancy as I’ve heard so much about her and I know our children will welcome having some more children around to befriend.
Tomorrow is the last day of the year for our children.  They have completed semester 2 and will be saying goodbye and thank you to their teachers.  Both Todd and Cheryl have been so kind and welcoming to our children and we are really appreciative for their assistance in helping to make our kid’s experience of ‘formal education’ so much fun.  Eli’s teacher was just commenting this afternoon that she doesn’t know how she’ll survive without Eli there to organize her! We are looking forward to Tobi and Eli’s end-of-year concert and graduation tomorrow morning!
And now back to why I began writing this blog… for AJ 
(or Joyce-ee, as Dave calls her).
I can't tell you enough what a blessing Joyce-ee has been in our family’s time in Thailand.
We laugh at her clever, witty blog entries and perfectly crafted emails.  We feel inspired by her spirit of adventure and truly amazed by the way she just makes things happen at ZOE.   Without a fuss, she just moves around and puts her little touch here and there; a conversation with one person, a smile at another, some advice and of course her wonderful sense of humor.
We will truly miss having her as part of our lives and as part of our 
ZOE family.
How could we be so impressed by someone we have known for such a small amount of time?  She is wise, graceful, elegant and fun!
We Crossies reckon you’re a beauty!
God Bless you Joyce-ee and SEE YOU SOON!


And, as a side note, once again we feel so blessed and amazed.
You know how we borrowed all Jessica's things when we first got to Thailand?  Well, the day we gave all her things back was, ironically, was the same day that all our freight arrived. 
We still had her DVD player though and a fan so on Saturday we finally gave them back to her as she was moving again- this time in to her new house.  As we gave her DVD player back, Jess handed us another one, which she’d picked up from Joyce’s house for us to ‘mind’. 
Now, as you know, having a DVD player is not a necessity.... BUT, it sure is handy to have one.  Our children especially appreciate it because they do not watch any television here (it’s all in Thai). 
As always, God's timing is perfect and he again engineered things to the exact moment (literally) when there was a need.