Six years. That’s how long it’s been since we left the Philippines for a short home assignment. Fully intending to return just a few months later, we packed up only a few necessities and hopped on a plane bound for the U.S. Little did we know, that would be last time we made that trip with the Philippines being our home.
I won’t rehash the whole story…most of you know it already. When the decision was made to not return to the Philippines in order to take on a new role in Mc Neal, AZ, we were heartbroken. We truly thought we’d be in the Philippines forever. Well, maybe not forever but at least until we were too old to be doing the job we were doing! We LOVED our job. We LOVED our people! We LOVED the life God had given us in the Philippines.
But God had different plans for us and, in His grace and mercy, He has carried us through some hard adjustments. Ask me about it sometime…it’s an incredible tale of His faithfulness and care for us that I love to share.
When we moved to Arizona, it was always with the intent that we would go back to the Philippines as a family to pack up our belongings and say goodbye. We felt we needed closure. We felt we’d never really move on without getting to go back one last time. Read about that move here!
God, in His grace, didn’t allow that trip to happen. He knew we weren’t ready. He knew that if we went back too soon, we’d long for it all over again. He knew what we actually needed and it wasn’t closure. He brought us to a place, once again, where all we needed was Him. It took me longer than I am willing to admit, but He’s been so patient with us. Just like we did in the Philippines, we LOVE our people here and our job and are so thankful to be here.
But God didn’t forget our desire to go back to the Philippines as a family one more time and, in 4 days time, we will be on a flight headed for Manila. We will get to spend two beautiful weeks in the country we grew to love so much. But instead of it being a sad goodbye, a heartbreak to relive, I believe it will just be filled with pure joy. Joy at seeing our people, joy at remembering the things we got to be a part of for twelve amazing years, joy at getting to be there as a family again. And then, two weeks later, we will excitedly hop back on the plane to return to our Arizona home.
Thank you to each of you who have prayed for us through the hard transitions and for the opportunity to go back. Thank you to each of you who have made this trip possible at all. We are so grateful.
Keep your eye out for more details about what we will be doing while we are there! Hint…it’s way more exciting than the fact that we get to go at all!
