In 2008 we brought a little 12 year old with Polly Pockets and Barbie dolls. In 2012 we will leave with a beautiful 16 year old mature young lady. Renee is an A+ Missionary Kid. I can't even call her a child anymore. She is much taller than me. She is much more advanced than I was at sixteen. She is a thinker, an analyzer, a reader, a motivator. She is a leader, so talented and confident in who she is.
This week, however, has begun the emotional departure roller coaster for her and thus for me. We are spending alot of time with tears, tight embraces, and snuggles. What can you do when words don't fit and the realization of leaving is boring a hole straight into our heart every waking moment?
What has become an easy pattern in our 34 years of ministry has now become a stark reality in a teenager's life and it isn't so easy anymore. Picking up and moving on and loving on new people in a new place isn't something that she wants or even cares to navigate in.
Since we have had Ryan and Renee, Denny often says our children will either love travel and adventure or they will never leave the county line of the town they settle in! I am still not sure how they are going to be in their adult years. It really could go either way!
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