Back in the US

Don't you love this photo? It's me and Joao holding the quilt that the women of Eastview made and gave to us. We just love it. It is such a beauty. What a treasure. I still take it out periodically just to look at it.
It's hard to believe it's already been a week since we closed our ministry at Eastview. March 26th will be imprinted on my heart and mind for a very long time. It's hard to even try to put it all down on words. Its such a rich and meaningful recollection of so many sensations. My heart was very full of the love I felt so clearly expressed. In addition the level of Christian maturity that was so very transparent made a huge impact on my life.
For days I had been building up for the "Big Good-bye", but as is always the case, God's grace was ever so sufficient. From the testimonies, to the baptisms, to the music, to the personal words of people, to the VERY generous love offering and the quilt, I was overwhelmed with such a sense of blessedness. There was no room for regret or deep sorrowing, although that doesn't mean I didn't grieve deeply. There were certainly plenty of tears. For me, though, the day was what I wanted it to be - God honouring.
Monday, the next day, was much more adventuresome, as my sister and her husband arrived from Kentucky with their RV. A crowd, and I do mean a crowd, of people came to help us load up the RV and a job I thought would last forever was finished in short order. It was even fun. A precious memory will be that after we finished, everyone gathered in the living room where we sat and talked and then prayed together.
Tuesday morning there were many details to care for, so we didn't get away very early. In fact, it was nearly noon. We were a little tense until we crossed the border. But with everyone's prayers accompanying us, that went very smoothly. All we had to do was show our passports and documents and of course Joao had to be finger-printed, as that is protocol.
So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had the life of rich men. We sat on the RV and talked and read and slept, and sang (accompanied by the guitar that would only fit into the shower along with a lot of other luggage) and ate. We had a grand time travelling. We were even able to stop in Pennsylvania and visit an Amish community. We rolled into my mom's house on Thursday night. We spent Friday recovering. On Saturday my nephew and a friend came over to help us unload. So here we are in Kentucky trying to get a grasp on where we are and where we are going. But it's all GOOD!