Goodbyes are Never Easy

At our training in February, an adult TCK (Third Culture Kid) explained that after saying goodbye so many times to so many people, he found that he stopped allowing himself to grow close to people so that goodbyes weren’t hard.  We too have had to say goodbye to many people already along this journey, and it certainly is not easy.  As we walked away from our precious friend’s house last night, several of us with tears in our eyes, I reminded the kids of this important lesson from our training.  We have loved deeply here in Delhi and that is why the goodbyes are painful…similar to the pain we felt when we left family and friends in the States.  We will have many more goodbyes along this journey, but the important thing to remember is that we must not refuse to love for fear of the pain of saying goodbye.  Our time in Delhi has been such a blessing to us, and we pray that we have been a blessing to those we have met here.  We are excited for the next leg of our journey but saying goodbye again has been hard.  Below are a few pictures from our visits these last few days.  Thanks for your love and prayers as we transition yet again!

Last Day of Language School

Friday marked our last day of language school in Delhi.  We have been working really hard on language and culture acquisition for the past five and a half months.  We are confident that we made the right decision in coming to Delhi for language school for a number of reasons.  First, it forced us to be intentional and intense in our language learning without having to worry about hiring a language nurture or training him/her on how to teach us.  All we had to do was show up for class every day and let our language nurturers pour into us.  Second, it enabled us to explore many of the amazing historical sites in the area to enrich our appreciation for our new culture.  Third, it gave us an opportunity to enjoy a few of the comforts of home…like food and...well…yeah, food.  Being a huge city, Delhi has many American restaurants that we could enjoy when I needed a break from cooking…like Chili’s, TGI Friday’s and McDonalds.  Although, we will not have access to these restaurants after our move, we will still be able to get Domino’s, KFC and Subway.  Why doesn’t anyone like Mexican food around here?!?!  Seriously, we have cherished our time in Delhi, especially the relationships we have formed.  We are excited to pack once again and board a plane next weekend to continue this grand adventure in our new location.  Thank you for sharing this journey with us! We truly love and appreciate you.  Below you will find a few pictures of the things we will miss most about Delhi...

 Our precious friend & language nurturer - Gudiya

 Gudyia's mother and our dear friend - Rushannara

 The trash service...yes the bull pulling the cart is our trash service, a luxury we will no longer have

The huge crowds...everywhere we go 

The beautiful views of this enormous city

Goodbye Sam...

This week was a difficult one for our family; we had to say goodbye to Sam.  She has been with us for nearly six months, sharing every moment of this first and most difficult leg of our journey.  It is hard to describe what her presence with us for this time has meant to us.  Her love, patience, creativity, maturity, and joy has been such a blessing to our entire family and especially our kids. 

Sam was a fantastic role model and teacher for our babies! She taught Desirae all her letters, how to write her name, and even started teaching her how to read.  Sam nurtured Delaney’s creativity and helped her discover the joy in reading and learning.  She inspired Dylan to greater heights as a follower of Jesus and as a musician.  Sam brought so much joy and laughter to our home with her delightful personality and her silly antics.  She was a true servant to our entire family!  For Sam and her willingness to sacrifice so much to share this journey with us for these six months, we are so incredibly grateful.