Farewell - again

There is a song in the The Sound of Music with the words 'So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye'. That is a feature of our lives. Last year we said farewell to Scotland for some time. And as our boys come and go to India, we are often welcoming back, going to visit or saying farewell. Yesterday afternoon Daniel set off on his journey back to India, a week earlier than Matthew as he has some important exams this week. Good friends of ours - we first met them with their two daughters in a park just three months after arriving in Japan twelve years ago - came to the airport to join us for lunch and say goodbye to Daniel. He is now in Bangkok waiting to connect to his flight to Bangalore followed by a seven hour taxi ride up to the school. Change and adjustments are not easy. Farewells don't get any easier either. But we have confidence in our God who does not change and whose promises do not change. He is with us. He goes before us. And he never leaves us. In all the changes of life, it's wonderful to be able to trust in such a God.