-Alfred Lord Tennyson
I love this quote! I first heard it in the movie Moulin Rouge
(no judging!). I haven’t thought about it in years, but it’s been on my mind recently.
As we drove away from Gambella and headed to the airport after saying our goodbyes to our Nuer friends, tears streamed down my face. How could God do this to us? How could he put us in a situation where we gave so much of ourselves and now had to leave it all?
Loving someone takes from you. It costs you, and it’s all worth it. That’s what I heard rise up within me as I questioned God that morning. I don’t know why we had to leave so abrubtly, but this time, this opportunity, this privellage--it was so worth it!
Y’all, I still cry when I see pictures of our friends. I feel a little bit like an emotional wreck! I’ve compared my emotional response to a breakup between a girlfriend and a boyfriend except...
None of our time was wasted. It was all for the glory of God. Some plant, others water, but it’s God who makes it grow. He who began a good work among the Nuer will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Not to us, not to us, oh Lord, but to your name be the glory.
We head out to a new people group in a few short weeks.Pray for us. Pray that our mourning would soon turn to dancing. That fear of loss would have no room in our hearts. Pray that we would do it all over again. That we would do it better. Give more. Love more. Serve more. That we would love well and point to this King. Our Joy! He is so worth it!