Burning Ones

Hey everyone,

We just said goodbye to Alex and Jaclyn and we won’t be seeing them (except digitally) for a while. It’s pretty crazy.

Anyway, just thought I’d throw up a little update. I’m definitely gonna miss them but I’m really grateful for the short amount of time that we did get to spend together.

OK, off to the tin-can in the sky.

So long in fact, that I’ve forgotten all of my HTML entity references and all of my habits about how to do this…

At the end of the day, that’s probably a good thing.

I’m currently sitting on the edge of Alex and Jaclyn’s new futon with my wife lying down behind me. I’m less than 24 hours away from leaving some of the best friends I’ve ever had and, honestly, I’m a little scared about the whole thing. So much in my life has changed lately, and I’m just really not sure whether or not I’m ready to go through this too.

Just a quick recap for all who are unaware. My Mom passed away just over a month ago. It’s crazy even to think about that. Most of the time I feel like it happened decades ago in some distant past that I can barely remember, but every once and awhile it really hits me again and I just start to cry. I really miss her.

When that happened, I was just about to start work at my new job with the department of treasury. I started a few days late and after those days I really just turned around and said that if I didn’t start then, I didn’t know when I would. So life went on… as I suppose it has too.

All of my systems have been disrupted. Church in strange, Monday Night Prayer has been shotty, Youth Group’s been non-existent, work has become a full-time thing… And to top it all off, Alex and Jaclyn have now moved. Officially. Finally. For real.

I’m just starting to get the sense that this time isn’t like the others, and that when I get on the plane that’s headed for home tomorrow, I won’t be doing anything but talking on the phone with them for multiple months. That even when we do talk, the common bond of activity that we’ve shared over the years will no longer be there, and we’ll be sharing stories rather than sharing moments of interaction. That as much as I want to be, I won’t be involved in what they’re doing and as much as they may want to be, they won’t be involved in what we’re doing. I don’t know how I’ll hold up to the transition.

So, life goes on much as it has always gone on, full of it’s own comings and goings. I guess all I can do right now is just keep moving. I love my friends dearly, and I’ll miss them sorely; I’m just hoping that distant want curb either of those two things.

When Alex and Jaclyn first approached us and told us that they felt that God was calling them out to Kansas City, Alex said something that has not left me and has been my prayer through this whole process. He said, “I feel like God wants us to be closer when we leave each other than we ever have been before.” I said amen then, and as I look at how things are going now, I know… God answered our prayer.

Thank you God, for giving me the gift of friendship with these two people. May you help it to continue.