The First Painful Goodbyes

It hardly seems possible that a month has gone by since my last post and that in less than a week our stuff will be shipped overseas. The mover tells us that our possessions will be "on the water" 85 days. That sounds like so far away! We don't really have all that much that we are taking personally, but we did insist on bringing our own bed (Jim is awfully tall after all) and we are bringing quite a bit of furniture for the child-care center at our school. Our students have about 30 children which will also be living on our compound with us - so it appears we will be nearly 75 people strong.
This past week we made it through some of the first goodbye hurdles - we left our wedding rings in a safe in Maine and exchanged new Walmart specials ($25.00 each) rings a week later. We closed up our summer cottage there and said goodbye to our little spot of heaven for the next two years. Jim & I have vacationed there for over 25 years so saying goodbye was a bit traumatic for each of us in different ways. We took a long walk on the beach looking out over the ocean and knowing that the next time we visit the beach it will be a very different ocean- but it will be much warmer than it is in Maine!
The Lord continues to remind us to trust him for everything. This past month both the pastor and the Commissioner's (bishop) wife in PNG have died. Both were much younger than us; one from malaria and one from typhoid fever. We lift up their spouses in prayer and pray that God would bring comfort to each of them.
Special thanks to our friend Carolyn who sent encouraging news about the only two remedies for sickness in PNG: two aspirin or two American Airlines tickets! We look forward to visiting with them on our way to PNG!
Continue to keep us in prayer as we begin the loooooooong goodbye!