Saying “See Ya Later…”

Those of you who know me from St. Ann are probably aware that our oldest, Deanna, left home yesterday, July 29, 2008, for San Antonio, TX on her way to a year in Mexico to serve as a Missioner for the Mi Casa Foundation.  Deanna will be stationed in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico (the 3d largest city in Mexico, I understand), and will be working at El Buen Pastor home for young girls ages 6-12.  The children in residence there are orphaned, abandoned or abused; Deanna will be working with another Missioner, Lauren from Scranton, PA, and a nun who’s permanently assigned there.

Nice, right?  And of course we’re proud of her, and we wish her well, and we hope all goes as God intends it to.  She sure will be fluent in Spanish when she returns.

But this departure is a “first” for our little family.  There have ALWAYS been the two, or three, or four girls here.  People have taken trips, even loooong trips, but at the end of it, everyone was together.  This time, though, when Deanna left us for that plane, in many ways she’ll *never* be back.  Oh, I expect her to show up after this Mexico adventure, and to move back into her room…for a time.  But the fact is that, when she returns, she will be Grown.  And she will no longer be a permanent resident of our household.  Always welcome, sure.  But never again one of our four little girls who live at the Jones house.

So what about that?  I am of course conflicted: on the one hand, to know that I don’t have to be responsible for her daily upkeep is nice; on the other hand…well, she’s my little girl.  And she’s leaving. Strike that.  She’s left.  And now there are three.

Time passes oh so swiftly.  One day, your kids are drooling on your shoulder as you carried their exhausted carcass through the end of yet another family adventure; the next day, you’re waving goodbye through the TSA security screening area, and watching them walk away.  And the time in between seems like it’ll never end…until it does.

So what’s my point?  Well…I’m a little sad.  And I feel a WHOLE lot older.  But I also know that we’ve spent 22 years preparing her for this adventure, and we know that God has called her to embark on it, so we’re happy for her.  And we’re happy for our family; we’ll be enriched, too, be her experience abroad.  And at the end of the day, God’s will is what all six of us are trying to live our lives to be about.  So now we get our first true test.

Please pray for Deana, and pray for us, that we’ll not miss her TOO much.

God bless!