Saying Goodbye

I feel like Keet and I have had a lot of practice saying goodbye over the 6 years of our marriage. The first time we said "Goodbye" was when we left Indianapolis for Trinity. Most of BOTH of our families are in the Indianapolis area, so saying goodbye to them and to friends was hard. I had never imagined myself living far from family.

Keet started his MDiv a little over our first anniversary of marriage. During his first year of graduate school, he was invited to Hanover (his alma mater) to teach introductory theology. We couldn't pass this opportunity up so we packed up our apartment and headed to southern Indiana less than a year after we had arrived. Once again, we said goodbye to the friends we had made and to the church we were attending. The goodbye wasn't so hard this time as the past year hadn't been the easiest or best for me, and we were going back to Indiana.

We stayed at Hanover for 2 years, and those were very enjoyable years for both of us. We were just a little under 2 hours from home and we loved living on the campus of Hanover. But, after a couple of years, it was time to head back to Chicagoland for Keet to finish his MDiv. Saying goodbye was hard again, especially to the beautiful campus, the Ohio River, and the professors and colleagues we had come to know.

When we returned to Trinity just a little over 2 years ago, we wanted to try and live in Kenosha, Wisconsin for a couple of reasons. First, we were very interested in attending Crossway Community Church and the cost of living was lower than in the northern suburbs of Chicago. We bought a house and we have attended Crossway from the beginning.

Now that we are preparing to say Goodbye again, this Goodbye seems the hardest of any. We have really enjoyed being a part of Crossway the last 2 years. We have both learned so much and have gotten connected in a way that hasn't really happened at any of our other churches. Also, some of the friends we have made here in Kenosha have been some of the best relationships we have ever had. I think we both know that these relationships will not be easily replaced. We will miss our monthly game nights, our Care Group that we were with for just one year, Lake Michigan, and many other little things that have made our stay in Kenosha enjoyable. A small part of me will miss Carthage, and my time there in the Institutional Advancement office. Even though I have wanted to be at home with Cole, I did enjoy my job and it was a huge blessing from the Lord in terms of his provision for us. We also had to say goodbye to our dog Duke, at least temporarily. We can't take him to the house we are renting so he is spending some extended time with the grandparents. Things definitely feel emptier without him around.

While neither of us wants to say Goodbye, we know that the Lord will be with us and we never have to say Goodbye to Him.

Here are just a few pictures of the things we will miss.



Playing games with friends. And not just ordinary games - but European board games. Fun times!

Lake Michigan - this was the view from our suite of offices at Carthage. The building on the right edge of the picture was my building.

Cole playing at the beach.

Cole and his babysitter, Renee. We will miss the Scott's a lot.

I didn't get any other pictures of other people :(, but you all know who you are.