“LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.”
These three words have been on my mind all day today. The past 5 days we have had the Hendrix extravaganza! Our BEST friends…our FAMILY here in Korea are moving up to Seoul in only 3 more days and we have been soaking in as much of them as possible. Those of you who have had a husband endure residency and those of you who have ever lived overseas will understand this with a certain depth that we can never put into words…but I am really in awe today of the grace of God in my life in this very specific way. My NEIGHBORS in Dupont were the BEST, and my NEIGHBORS here in Taegu, South Korea have been the BEST. I completely recognize this as the Hand of our Loving God. My family has been so loved, so cared for, so blessed by these people that GOD has truly chosen for us. I can’t imagine the last three years without our sweet Hendrix family. We have walked through everything that life has brought to us–while living far away from our biological families, God has brought a depth and closeness between our families that I have never experienced before. This is the bitter sweet piece of a life lived in any type of service. We surrender the control and comfort and often times the gift of the people you want to KEEP forever. The Hendrix family are those to me. If I had my choice I would always keep them as my neighbors. They have exemplified this Scripture that God gave to LOVE. They have embraced us in all our craziness. They have cared for us when we’ve been sick, walked with us through crisis, they’ve celebrated with us–births, milestones-first words, first teeth, first bike rides, first steps… adoptions, new babies, victories…they’ve grieved with us at losses, and the trials that have come. They found beautiful, creative ways to support us as we brought our 4th and 5th baby girls home within 3 months! I have learned so much from them and pray that I can be this kind of friend to my future neighbors.
God’s comfort and truth to me today as I am beginning to release is this, that there IS a time and season to everything. This season has been beyond precious to me. And the letting go is too painful. I’ve been trying to purely enjoy the moment, but I know too that I need to process, prepare and celebrate a little bit so it doesn’t rock my world too much when Tuesday comes! But again, God is sovereign and loving. He will keep our hearts knitted, our lives forever connected and I could not be more thankful for that. I praise Him for the JOYFUL impact and lifelong memories He’s allowed us to share with this incredible family.
SO, now for the FUN, CELEBRATORY part of this…the photos!! WE LOVE YOU TERA, BIG JIMMY, LITTLE JIMMY, and BEN BEN. Thank you for becoming our Family. Family is Forever. I love you with all my heart.
SO cute!!
We LOVE our Hendrix fam!
Tera and Jimmy.
1...2...3...SPLASH!!!
she IS THIS fun!!
the 'cousins' love each other!
Riah LOVES her Uncle Jimmy!
Fun at the park!
friends and popsicles...life couldn't be sweeter!!
My girls love their Auntie Tera!
Got him smiling!!
Another one 🙂
Sun, a hill, a slip n' slide, and a little shaving cream = HOURS of FUN 🙂
Ella was made for the water 🙂
These two are the BEST of friends...they crack me up looking like teenagers already!!
Messy #1...with YoBaby!!
Messy #2...with Shaving Cream!!!
Our squishy nosed, happy baby is back!!
Precious moment with the Hendrix boys. Love you guys so much!
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