Dear Parents of Gap L,
9 months have come and gone and in just a few weeks you will be reunited with your child. Some of you this will be the first time being reunited with your child since they left to embark on this journey. For others it will be a beautiful reunion since seeing your child’s world in India. Over these 9 months you have received many messages and facetime calls at weird hours of the day due to time differences. Calls full of excitement, tears, joys, and rants on how they miss Chick-Fil-A. You have heard the growth in their lives through the stories they tell, blogs they write, and how they communicate. You have watched your child be a beacon of joy, hope, and love to those they have encountered on the field. You have watched them grow, but this is probably the first time you have watched them grow from a distance.
I am not a parent and could only imagine what this whole journey has been like for you. From the moment they told you they were leaving for 9 months to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the late night facetime calls that were full of tears. Watching from a distance so desperately yearning to hold your child and help them get through the pits they walked through so they didn’t have to be in discomfort. Covering them with your protection and love.
You my friends are brave.
Full of faith.
And love and trust your child so deeply.
It has been an absolute honor to be able to get to know your child during these 9 months. To be able to walk beside them. Teach them. Laugh with them. Cry with them. Seek the Lord with them. And learn from them.They are an incredible child of God. I wish I had the words to explain to you how special they are, but I have a hunch that you already know that!
As Gap L gets ready to go back to our homes I find myself in a place of mixed emotions. I am terribly sad that I no longer get to live in community with your child everyday. To share meals with them. Watch them thrive in ministry. And love up and be loved by them. But on the contrary I am excited for this season to end and watch 32 new season begin. Watching as your child lives out the life God has called them on. Whether that is starting university and bringing kingdom to their campus, or going back on the field. I can’t wait to watch some of my favorite humans follow the Lords voice wherever He calls them.
With all that being said I want to thank you. Not only to trusting the Lord with your child, supporting them, and loving them so deeply, but also for trusting and loving me and the rest of leadership as much as you have. Supporting us in every way possible. For reaching out with encouragement. Even letting us chat with you during a precious facetime call from your child. You have been a blessing. Speaking for myself I can truly say that even watching how you have supported your child has given me so much hope and encouraged me more than I can comprehend.
I can’t wait for you to be reunited with your very changed (in the best way possible I promise) child so soon, but until then I am going to continue to celebrate all the cool things the Lord has done in and through them this year!
Much Love,
Sara Mac
