First "Lasts"

Cabin Time - We will miss this big time...
We have begun the process of saying good-bye --Last day at Highlands elementary, Last time at our church (at least when it meets indoors). My last day at work before my successor starts, etc. We are still around for another month or so, but are beginning to really face the fact that we are leaving this place, and more importantly, the people that we love. Tears come easily.

One of the gifts of leaving is the fact that you stop and appreciate reality. For example, we all know that our kids are "growing up" however, with our moving, we are reflecting on the fact that Mackenzie will not be a little girl when we come back and therefore, really soaking up the place she is in today. I want this to be more true in normal day to day life.

A friend, Mo, visited us last week from California. After she got back and shared pictures and stories with her husband, Dan, he gave us the gift of this song. Supposedly the music is in the works. (Our last post gives some insight to the song.) We leave you with this on this beautiful Minnesota summer evening.


The Big Empty House

The big empty house is empty
Of anything you can buy
The furniture’s packed and loaded up
In boxes too big to fly

Peddling the hall on a tricycle
Bennett’s as free as he’s been
Mackenzie blows bubbles and laughs out loud
Clara gets lost in a grin

And all of the kids in the neighborhood
Play in the empty house
Leave all of their stuff on the front porch
To see what it’s all about

The children of Africa took our hearts
When we first decided to care
Years later now, our stuff’s on the way
And all of our floors are bare

And all of the kids in the neighborhood
Come to the empty house
Leave all of their stuff on the front porch
To see what it’s all about

We’ll probably be back in a couple of years
Who knows where it goes from there
When you’re a bridge, you have two sides
But you’re still hanging up in the air

People come by with a memory
We laugh how the echoes surround
Eat Chinese food on the dining room floor

And bask in the freedom we’ve found

Thanks for being on this journey with us.