Tuesday

Waiting for the weekend to be over, and anticipating the longest goodbye I have ever withstood, the moment to say good-bye finally came...
We spent the weekend with family and I soaked up every moment I could with my parents and brothers before Tuesday night when I had to leave our home in Mansfield to go to class in the morning. I dreaded Tuesday night. Tuesday night meant that it was finally here, finally real, and the pain would be ever more increasing as I drove away that night. I cried all the way home and late into the night with Burke at my side trying to comfort the me as a steady flow of tears rushed down my stinging cheeks. I've known for months that Tuesday would come, but to feel the embrace of my father's more fit than ever arms around me, to hear the sad crack of his voice as he said " I love you", and to later hear him tell Burke, " take care of my little girl", broke my heart more than I ever imagined. To hear my mothers soft whimpers and feel her warm tears on my neck, to feel her gentle and loving arms hold me tight, and to see her cover her mouth as I drove away, drove the deepening break in my heart deeper. As I rode home in my car full of stuff from my mom's house, I thought the wound would never heal, I thought I would always have a little crack in my heart, not because I am mad they are moving, but because I know I will miss their closeness and friendship that was only one hour away. Now they embark on a knew adventure, an adventure fully thought out and planned with great love by God.
Over the short time that they have been gone, God has filled my little crack in my heart with a deeper understanding of faith, a refreshed sense of peace and a knowledge that my parents are now being ambassadors for Christ in a different part of the world. My parents are missionaries. Nothing could bring me greater peace and joy than to know that my dad will bring peace to the hurt and dying soldiers fighting for our freedom. My mom will be a minister to the women who have the hardest job in the world, and have an immaculate impact in the lives of our soldiers wives.
I can't wait to see the great plans of the Lord unfold, I can't wait to go to their new home in Washington and have to ask where the forks are, and I can't wait to be in the more than ever fit arms of my father, the sweet grasp of my mother and to hold the little hands of my brothers again.