New Home/Old Home

Today my girlfriend and Ansley said goodbye to Bronwyn and started their trip back to Tennessee.

It was another tough goodbye for Bronwyn.

I am thankful for lots of things but a couple in particular.

First, I am thankful that Bronwyn has Asia, her roommate. You see Asia is also a missionary (aren't all believers supposed to be?). She grew up in Thailand.

They met for the first time on Saturday and are already great buddies. Bronwyn loves her and has told us how happy she is to have Asia as a roommate.

We are thankful that Asia is there with Bronwyn. They will both be able to encourage and uplift each other when they miss their families who will be thousands of miles away. There, obviously, won't be many people on campus who will understand what they are feeling. I'm glad they have each other.

Secondly, I'm also thankful that Bronwyn goes to college in the city that she does.

You see our family actually moved to Abilene, Texas about 10 years ago.

We lived there for almost a year.

Not enough time, you might think, for us to get super involved or to make lasting friends. You would be wrong.

My girlfriend and I have been married 22 years. We've lived in 4 different cities in 3 different states and 2 different countries.

We've never lived in a city where we felt the Spirit's presence as strongly as we did when we lived in Abilene, Texas.  There are three Christian universities in this city and they get along great. Bronwyn's nursing program is actually for students of all three universities. God's family in action.

I felt the Spirit's presence so strongly when we lived there and I loved being there so much that I actually talked to my girlfriend about us staying there and not moving to Brasil. She, rightfully so, reminded me of God's call for our family. I, selfishly, had wanted to stay for me and not because I felt God asking us to do so because I honestly had never felt the Spirit's presence so strongly in a place before.

One of the things that I loved so much was our church family. To tell you what they mean to us and all the things that they did, and still do for us, would take too long but I'll share some quick details.

We were a part of a small group. It was our first real glimpse of what house church looked like. They took us in and really showed us the love of Christ. We laughed so much with them. The last time we were together with them, when we lived there, each family member of each family in the group blessed us with a different scripture and then they washed our feet. No one had ever done anything like that for us. Part of this group even came down here to work with us a few years ago. The last night we lived there one of the guys from this group took us to an elders meeting at our church just so they could lay hands on us and send us off to Brasil. This group continues to be actively involved in this ministry. They have taught us so much.

Benay took the girls to church there this past Sunday in Abilene. I told her that she had to find two men that are very special to me. They are shepherds at the church and I got to be close to both of them in different ways when we lived there.

I met regularly with one of these guys when we lived there. He is a man who is extremely humble, Spirit led and a prayer warrior. Right before we left, in 2002, he invited us to a prayer room at another church. When we got there, he and two women we had never met before from another church, laid hands on us and prayed for God's work in Brasil. I can't tell you how powerful that was for my girlfriend and myself.

Anyway, my girlfriend got to church last Sunday and there were about 1,000 people there and she said she looked at all the people and thought, "I'm just going to have to tell Kevin that there is no way that I could find them." About that time the leaders asked all freshmen and their parents to come up so that the shepherds could lay hands on them to ask God's blessing on them in the upcoming school year. Want to guess which elder laid hands and prayed for Bronwyn and my girlfriend? That's right. My close friend.

When church was over my other buddy came over to talk to my girlfriend. So she was able to speak to both men that I wanted her to see. A complete God thing as neither one of them even knew my girlfriend and the girls would be there. Next time, Jim and Ed, I'll be there to see you guys and give you a hug.

Okay, enough about our time there right? I mean why am I sharing this stuff?

Because many people there have emailed us and told us that they want to and are going to take care of our daughter. They've already invited her to share meals, to share some one on one time and have offered help with anything that she might need.

My girlfriend and I feel so blessed to have our spiritual family right there taking care of her. To know that people are looking after our daughter is such a blessing.

It reminded me of a lesson I heard recently from Francis Chan. He said the elders at the church he used to preach at told him that if anything ever happened to him that they promised to take care of his family forever. That he didn't ever need to worry because his spiritual family would take care of his blood family. What an incredible statement by the leadership. What an incredible display of what God's family is supposed to be like. Real family.

Bronwyn was 11 when we left Abilene. When she started looking at colleges, ACU was always at the top of her list. There never was much wavering on her going anywhere else. It's like she knew from the beginning where she was headed.

I really believe, even though she says she doesn't remember much, that she does remember bits and pieces about her time in Abilene and that she also felt the Spirit's presence in a strong way. In a way that just kind of tugged on her heart to go back.

Whatever happened, I am thankful that she followed the Spirit, that she is at ACU and that God's family is already taking care of her.

God continues to tell us that no matter what happens to my girlfriend or myself (life/death, sickness, thousands of miles separating our family, etc.), His family will take care of our family for the long haul.