Emotions.

We're moving in four days. 

It goes without saying my emotions have gone all the way from elation to tears, sometimes within the same hour! What an unreliable indicator of truth.

On the one hand, we are incredibly excited as we take the next step forward in reaching out to people groups in SE Asia. So many brand-new opportunities and connections await us. How thrilling!

And, of course, there's the other hand. The hand that tugs on my emotional heartstrings. For instance, this picture:

These two little guys are Sunday buddies. As in, they play together each Sunday and have done so for over a year. Us moving four hours north is putting an abrupt end to the adventures in toddler-hood these two share. {Well, it would come to an end soon anyway since the other little boy's parents are returning to the states for furlough but ... I digress.} 

We've put down some roots in Chiang Mai - 19 months of roots. We've gotten to know and love so many people, visited many unique places, hosted our first visitors here, made memories with Paul, and of course Ellie was born here. We stumbled through language learning (oh wait, I'm still stumbling!), had some cultural boo-boos, and were a source of endless entertainment for our neighborhood.

By focusing on the past though, I'm not going to make forward traction. Instead, I'm going to get sentimental thinking through memories, but not adjusting to a new set of adventures. 

And so.... I choose to be excited about this new step ahead of us. Of course that doesn't mean part of my heart isn't being left behind in Chiang Mai. It is. Just like a part of my heart is in Pennsylvania. But I can't wait to begin putting down some new roots and making new memories in a new place. Oh, and the people we will meet! I want them to come to Heaven with me. So it's time to dig up those roots and plant them somewhere new. Souls are waiting.

Our new city

Our new house - please come visit us!