Mixed Feelings

In a few days I'll be leaving Minneapolis to return to my home in Holland.
I'm excited and I'm sad.
I'm looking forward and I'm regretting.
I'm ready and I'm not.

Yet, I know it is right for me to move on. I know it's God's plan that I leave my family for now. But it is still hard to leave. Doing the right thing doesn't means it's the easy thing.
Mom's health is somewhat stable though she is certainly weaker than when I arrived eight months ago. She courageously faces each pain-filled day and just takes one step after another. She lives each day by the grace of God and this is how she worships Him.
Our family met together the week before Christmas and discussed how we can continue to care for mom in the days ahead. We're pulling together to make it work and, in doing so, showing our love for mother and for one another.

I will miss my family, especially my mother.
I will miss my home church, especially the closer friends God has given me there.
I will miss many other friends and our rendezvous for coffee.
I will miss the climate and culture of my home state.

I look forward to my own home in Holland, my friends, my church, my life and purpose there with Youth With A Mission, the Dutch culture.

There is a time for everything, and a right season for every activity under heaven:
... a time to plant and a time to uproot,
... a time to weep and a time to laugh,
... a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
... a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
... a time to stay and a time to go (Ecc.3)