9/12/12
It’s hard to load 27 years of living into a moving van as one enters a new
season of life. To pack up to travel 13 hours away to a new home location and
reduce one’s household to fit into a truck seems minimizing the importance of a
life lived in that homeplace. The good news---it’s the relationship with people
and the memories, especially the spiritual legacies, which remain. An impact on
others that far outlasts our household goods.
The
Swets were such godly, caring people for us and all on our street. We watched our
street change together. We watched people be carried out in ambulances
together. Our kids grew up together.
We
will miss their legacy of kindness as will the folks at Second Pres where Paul
ministered for years. International students will miss their open door and
holiday meals. All of Longreen will miss their gifts of soup on windowsills,
energy drinks at the back door, caramel corn tied up with a verse of scripture
and neighborhood watchfulness.
Their
kitchen table and chairs remain, along with the large, shiny “new” kitchen
window’s unobstructed view of backyards. No fences between our house and theirs
have given all our kids and grands lots of room to hit baseballs, ride in mini
golf carts and just roam. A good neighborhood for folks to get to know each
other.
This
morning has the new neighbors, a young couple whose grandparents I know, making
their first steps toward moving in and establish their own home and legacy. May
they build a spiritual inheritance as well---a legacy that will last
into eternity.
