Parting is such sweet sorrow...

"Parting is such sweet sorrow..." and it will begin on the next tomorrow...

What a sweet ending to an event filled summer! Our family shared lunch together at a halfway point restaurant, so that our 'soon to be delivered' daughter and her husband could join the rest of the family in a sendoff to our son's "raven beauty," who heads north to Alaska tomorrow morning. She preceeds him to the "land of the midnight sun," to begin a job at a language immersion school teaching a combination Kindergarten and First Grade class. After a valiant attempt to become employed here in the sunny South, she made contacts with former employers up north and was quickly offered a job. Their gain, our loss...but we are all trusting that God's plans for them are much greater than our sadness at our parting. Tomorrow begins the long day's night as she leaves here at 6 am and eventually arrives in Alaska at 1 am their time (5:30am next day, our time!). To say she will be missed is more than an understatement.

And, tomorrow begins my return to my school, with teacher's workdays before the kids come back next Monday. I saw a fellow teacher at church today and was asked, "Are you ready?" and I gave her my traditional answer, "Do I have a choice?" We both smile knowing the answer before we began the exchange. Now, where did I put that seed for the oaks, and elms, and maples, and willows, and pines....?? Here we go, Lord.