Timm left for Africa on Sunday morning, and like always, we are happy to support him, yet miss him very much. His dad is traveling alongside of him this time, making for a very memorable experience for them both. Timm’s parents are in full-time ministry in Mexico City, and this is a very sweet opportunity for Timm and his dad to work together.
In the history of Africa trips, never has the turnaround been as fast as this one. I will concede that with school in full swing and everyone occupied during the day, it is a much easier road than the trip he took this summer, but the emotional toll is still siginificant for our children.
Everyone ugly cries at the airport, and I drive away with a car full of terribly sad children. We’re not crying, you’re crying.
While Timm is away, I am attacking our home with a ferociousness that I haven’t summoned in quite some time. I feel like I’m nesting. All the instinctual urges to get my space in order before the arrival of something new and unknown is not unlike the last couple weeks of a pregnancy. I have done everything I can to plan and prepare on paper, and the only details left are the ones that I will learn once the day arrives. In the meantime, my house is bearing the brunt of my eager expectation.
Working on the house and making sure our children get what they need has kept my mind distracted from the gaping hole that is left when Timm is on the other side of the world. His absence is never something I look forward to, but I am quite proud of him and the work he does to further the gospel and to share the hope of Jesus with his brothers and sisters in South Sudan.
But for real…come home soon.
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