(Claire) Saying goodbye

Saying goodbye to our families was the last big hurdle that we had to jump before we made it to Brazil. I’d been dreading that moment, as my parents live in South Africa for half of the year and so we didn’t know when we were going to see each other again. We all woke up at 3am, ouch! To get to Heathrow for our 6am flight. Everything went smoothly at the check-in, all our many bags were just the right weight (relief!) and so, all too quickly, the time to say goodbye arrived. Somehow having a ‘next date to meet’ seemed like it would have helped, but without knowing when that would be it was instead a painful “I’ll see you when I see you”. After making it through security we sat down for a quick coffee and I read through the beautiful leaving book that my Mum had made for us, with encouraging words and smiling pictures of friends… I read this entry and was reminded that I walk hand-in-hand with God, and with him nothing changes…


“In heavenly love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear,
And safe in such confiding,
For nothing changes here;
The storm may roar without me,
My heart may low be laid;
But God is round about me,
And can I be dismayed?”

I decided not to push any of the emotion down, but let it all out (!) so that there would be room for the deep joy and excitement that I’d been feeling up until this point to re-surface. And so it did! As I sat on the plane ready to take-off, I thought, with excitement bubbling, ‘we’re about to fly into the next chapter…’ !