It's been a whirlwind of a week. Sunday, after hearing of the final days of Grandpa Lowery drawing near, Britt and I decided that our whole family should return to Indiana. Grandpa holds a dear place in our hearts and has long been held as Britt's spiritual hero. The twins were already in preparation for a return trip for their summer break. So rather than leaving the four youngest behind (an unacceptable option for this momma), we decided we would all return. At this time, Grandpa is still holding on. But now that Britt was able to go see him and say goodbye (even though Grandpa is not responsive), maybe he'll feel free to let go of this life for a much better one.
We were scheduled to finish our school year the 29th. But due to the urgency of returning, we crammed our last five days into two, finishing up the 26th. Yay! Our 10th graders and 6th grader completed a school year in 8 months, putting us back on the U.S. school year. The end was much anticipated, since our last real break was a year ago April.
We've been in the process of obtaining our Guatemalan residency since the end of October. We received our final stamp giving us permanent residence on Monday. Now, this is a huge reason for celebration. But with our whirlwind week, it just happened as we blinked through the week. It's a good feeling knowing we no longer will deal with 90-day visa renewals.
Missionary friends whom we've loved getting to know living in Antigua are returning stateside permanently June 1st. It's a sad part of our life here...saying goodbye or see-ya-later to friends. There's an intimacy you develop here with fellow missionaries unlike anything I can explain. You just get each other and can relate on so many levels. I was able to spend a few days helping Karen pack this week. I've done the international packing once. So it was familiar. It's my thing. In fact, I had to leave before her packing was complete and it's driving me crazy knowing I didn't finish a task. Miss you already, Friend!
An added benefit to our friendship was getting first dibs on some furniture they were selling, including a new set of bunk beds for the little boys. Whose idea was it to tell them two months ago they were getting bunk beds? Every. Day. "How many more days until we get our bunk beds?" It's been worse than counting down until Christmas. Since we had this unexpected trip come up, we moved the date up for getting the bunk beds...to Thursday, day before our flight out. There is no way to contain the excitement and anticipation of a 5 and 7 year old getting long anticipated bunk beds and an unexpected trip to Indiana all in one week. No way. Maybe that's the real reason I snuck out to help Karen pack. 😉
This trip came about so rapidly, there was no time for anticipation, excitement, or planning ahead. We don't return to our homeland bearing gifts as we normally would. We haven't scheduled our time full of visits. But we do anticipate seeing many of our friends and family due to the impending circumstances of our trip. Not to mention this is the time of year for weddings and graduations, which draws everyone together.
On that note. Cool story. My two long-time dear friends' kids are marrying each other. Imagine that. I've been praying since January that I could return home for this wedding. It's just been a special event that I wanted to share with my friends. But due to the expense of the trip and it not being a necessity (possibly a matter of opinion depending who you ask) just a deep desire, my hopes of my prayer being answered were coming to despair. So when this trip came together, I had to laugh. I never could have guessed the circumstances that would evolve to make it possible for it all come together for my prayer to be answered. The wedding is June 6th. Sometimes, and I'm not sure why, I'm overwhelmed by God's plans and his timing.
Oh. And Mickey flew in from South Dakota on Wednesday. He met us at the airport today and brought this momma to tears. He's getting so big.
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