Tonight at our weekly CompassionSC team dinner and meeting Tate quietly walked up to my left side as I was talking. She whispered in my ear, "Daddy I'm going to miss you when you are in Africa." We planned on sharing with the girls later in the week about my departure. Tate is quick and as I shared earlier in the meeting about some details the team needed to cover while I was away she picked up on my planned absence.
I was caught off guard how raw my emotional response was as I picked her up and held her in the chair. "I will miss you too. I love you dearly Tate," I said. She then asked, "Daddy why are your eyes watering." I was overcome with tears as I looked into the future and thought about saying good bye as I head out to Kenya and Ethiopia in less than a week. I'm told leaving family never gets easier from those who have traveled and done this work for years now. As nice as it is for it to get easier every time, I hope it does not. It will remind me each time I leave how cherished my family is in the deepest recesses of my soul. It will make each time I come home a vibrant celebration of our love.
It's less than a week away. I'm excited. I know without a doubt this is what I'm gifted to be doing, what I was created to be have the opportunity to be living. It's also been harder to prepare my own heart than I imagined. Yet, the pain and momentary suffering does not compare to the eternal opportunity we have to impact the lives of abandoned and orphaned children, to see His kingdom come and His will being done among them. The temporary absence of leaving my family is real, but we know it is a small cost to pay for the opportunity to follow Jesus into His Way for the sake of the fatherless.
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