Guess what!!! The flights are booked and the Temple Family will be returning home to Virginia on Wednesday evening, December 17th. While we are full of JOY having waited these five LONG months anticipating our return home; we are all again faced with many mixed emotions. In those five months away weve been embraced, cared for, and loved so deeply by so many in our wonderful church family here in Texas. We were perfect strangers and you took us in during our greatest time of need and most intense trials, meeting our deepest need to walk this journey alongside believers. Youve given sacrificially providing a home for us to stay in. Youve interceded with us and for us. You have fed us, cared for our children, prayed for us, stepping up to meet every need, great and small. Youve texted and called to offer support and help; youve pursued me to love and support me. Youve brought sheets, comforters and washed laundry. Youve picked up food to feed our kids. Youve called to give me a ride to womens group and taken me to dinner. Youve taken my kids to dinner. Youve brought fresh fruit from edible arrangements and dropped it off on your way home. Youve included my kids in events and offered to bring them home. Youve weekly picked up the kids to go horseback riding and taken them to lunch, etc. so their afternoons home would not be so long. Several times, youve driven an hour to fill our freezer full of meals. Youve been the hands and feet of Jesus. Our time here in Texas will forever be marked by your genuine concern, faithfulness, generosity, and love. Goodbyes are so difficult. We are grateful. Grateful Abl is alive ... grateful this season is coming to an end ... grateful for the MULTITUDE of abundant blessings ... grateful for every financial gift given for this less destructive treatment ... grateful weve survived, been stretched, grown, and been made stronger ... grateful to know you all ... grateful and rejoicing to be returning home early ... grateful for Abls early end to treatment and his release from the hospital... grateful for living real time in the Palm of His Hand ... grateful to have heard the soft whisper of His voice in the darkest moments. Now that the intensity of the journey is diminishing, and we dont have to remain unwaveringly strong; the numbness is decreasing and we are all beginning to process the trauma of these many months. Please pray for all of us as we are beginning to deal with the many intense surfacing emotions. I am struggling to describe where the Temple Family is now. The most accurate word I can find is fragile. Weve won the war and there is VICTORY. This battle IS over but as I look back over the battlefield I also see ruin, desolation, and brokenness. It is hard to describe this brokenness. Brokenness and scars that are deep and raw ... brokenness that has wrought profound change, and scars that ARE yielding fruit. As I reflected on the ruin and desolation of our battlefield, I asked the Lord, What now? It all looks so desolate. His response was, Now it is time to rebuild. I know that one day, the battlefield will no longer look like a war zone. Instead, that ground will hold something magnificent that He will fashion in the days ahead with His very own Hands. I anticipate the beauty out of ashes and the joy for mourning. Please know that while we are full of delight and anticipation to see you at the airport when we land; there also is a somberness about us as we are all full of raw emotions that seem overwhelming at times. We come home knowing that many of you are weary from battle too, having bore our burdens so faithfully. That you have been faced with the burden and the difficulty of us being so far away. We are forever grateful for you. Thank you for walking with us; and for carrying us at times. For venturing into the darkness with us and for cheering us on to this finish line. You are our heroes! With all the love in our hearts! Michelle, Abl, Noah & Sabbath
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 03:31:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015