As I type, several dear friends are flying out of Chiang Mai for the summer. But one in particular will not return come August as the others will. Her name is J and I've known her since my second week in Thailand. We were a part of the "Fab Five" as another friend so aptly nicknamed us (the five new Elementary teachers last year). She had taught for ten years already and was one who took me under her wing as I started out on my own last year. She is a fellow introvert and therefore we helped each other not feel so weird when we needed to just be alone, or "introverted in" while at a party. She has been a part of my daily life here in Chiang Mai from the beginning. And I'm going to miss her a lot. J - if you're reading this, it was the card that broke the dam. You just had to leave that card, just as you always do, didn't you? Well, please keep the cards coming cause no one does a card like you.
J and I all dolled up for the Staff Appreciation Dinner in May
As I mentioned that tonight was the first of two very difficult "See ya laters", the other will happen in exactly one week from tonight as I prepare to fly back to the States. Her name is H and she and her husband came to Chiang Mai at the beginning of this school year from England. They were only sent for one school year, and it has been a very complicated and difficult year for them. Yet she has pursued deep friendships to the very end of that year. She impresses me with her love and kindness for people, and inspires me to love more deeply and encourage more consistently. She is beautiful inside and out, and it will be hard to say goodbye to her as well.
K, H, and I, also at the Staff Appreciation Dinner in May
While these aren't the only goodbyes I will say this season, they are the ones that make me thankful for the tears, because those tears tell me that I have loved, and been loved, deeply. In moments like these, when I feel that love amidst the pain, that I know my God is collecting my tears in a special bottle. That He knows my pain, and created me to feel these emotions, this deep love for others that causes the deep pain of a goodbye. And moments like these make me long for heaven, my everlasting home, where there will be no tears and sorrow, no goodbyes, only hellos. Where we can all be together, for all eternity, praising our Savior and Lord together.
This summer will be filled with many more hellos and goodbyes, and by the time I return to Chiang Mai, I will most likely be emotionally exhausted. Please join me in prayer for these beautiful women who will both be returning to their previous homes, rejoining family, friends, and home country cultures. Pray for their transition and that God would provide all that they need in the coming months and year. Pray for our hearts as our friendships move from daily to long-distance, and the transitional issues that arise with that. Please pray for me as I prepare in the next week to return to my family, friends, and home culture and in dealing with all the emotions that come with that. My prayer for this summer is to deepen connections with family and friends so that relationships are strong when I return, to build connections with supporters and churches that will strengthen my financial situation as I return, and that I'd simply be able to laugh this summer, at myself and at things that simply seem silly in America after living oversees!