Out of the nest

First day out on the road as a missionary. It's sort of a novel experience. So what does it feel like? It's kind of like your birthday when you're younger and people would ask you, do you feel a year older? You really don't, because you've been growing and learning a day at a time all year long, so you don't really notice the growth and your birthday is more of a milestone.

That is surprisingly how I feel today. I recognize it is a key day, however, God has been so involved every step of the way (He had to or we wouldn't be here right now) that it just seems like the logical next step and to do anything else would seem strange or illogical. It reminds me of the swimming lessons for the children. You spend your first couple years in the shallow end with water wings and kickboards, but sooner or later it's off to the deep end. In our case, we're using God's guidance and everything we've learned over the last several years to keep us afloat.

The kids (Noah and Bianca) start school in the van today (2nd grade and Kindergarten respectively).