Well we have left our home where we have been living for the past 6 months in Sundre. We packed up our 5 by 10 trailer in the minus 27 degree temps. Let me tell you that in those temperatures we are sure looking forward to leaving! On that topic though, it has been hard. This life of transition that we "signed up for" sure isn't the easiest thing, but we wouldn't change a thing. We so completely enjoyed our time in Sundre connecting with the people from our home church - McDougal Chapel- and we truly felt loved by them. It was a wonderful 6 months with our church family. It is obvious that so many people from our church care for us so deeply. They proved it to us time and again in many different ways and it sure isn't easy to leave them all.
The kids loved their time in Sundre as well and got so connected again with their friends at church. It truly is bitter sweet for us and for our kids to leave. We are all excited- the kids included- about leaving for Mexico and getting settled in there. However it sure isn't easy to leave. Each one of us deals with the leaving a little differently. We have had times of crying as a family and times of jumping up and down as we look forward to what is coming. Just when we were ready to leave our house for good, we couldn't find Noah because he was hiding in the closet crying. It is at times like these that as a parent you wonder if it is all worth it. However God is gracious and He quickly reminds us that there is no doubt it is worth it. He gives us what we need to get through the hard times and He allowed us to stay in Paraguay long enough to experience some wonderful relationships with the Paraguayan people and that showed us that all of the hard work of learning a new language and culture was so worth it. We didn't just endure the hardship of learning and adjusting without reaping some benefits, specifically with a number of wonderful Paraguayan people.
This helps us to remember that even though we are having a bit of a hard time with the transition that is upon us again, we will get through it and we will come to love the people in Mexico that we will be serving and serving with.
We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our families and then we will be driving to Mexico shortly after Christmas sometime.
One more big goodbye, to our families! Then we can look forward to some hellos in Mexico and be finished with the goodbyes for a while!
Thanks for your prayers.
Lane for all of us
Have a look at what the Elliott's are up to in Northern Mexico
