More goodbyes

For the past 10 days or so we’ve been resisting viruses and infections doing the rounds. Ethan, Aimee and Ryan have all been requesting regular honey and lemon drinks, and in the past few days we’ve all been drinking our Rooibos with lemon and honey! Its not nice to be ill. On Sunday morning Dieter woke feeling yuck and initially planned to stay in bed. The kids and I continued to get ready to go to church and he opted to join us. But, he’s been in bed most of the time since then. Of the 5 of us that are coughing and feeling sore, Dieter’s the worst hit. I bought a new bottle of Echinacea tablets yesterday as the stock we brought with us has recently finished. We aren’t rushing out to the doctor or dosing ourselves up with meds, we’re just putting on the brakes and resting a lot more, and trusting God to bring healing to our bodies again.

Looking at my last post, I’m thinking of how much we miss our friends in Cyprus (and other countries!). But in the last 2 days we’ve had to say more permanent goodbyes to friends who have left this earth. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kinnear and the Le Roux families tonight as they mourn their loss. Dieter first met Benice Kinnear when he was a student at Rhema Bible Training Centre before we got married. A few years later we met Keith and Benice at 3Ci in Pretoria and became good friends. In the 10 years we’ve been abroad their 2 children have grown so beautifully and are now in their teens. Fortunately we never lost contact and have been able to follow some of their journey as Benice fought and conquered various cancers over the past few years. Her testimony has been of God’s goodness, faithfulness and healing. Today the loss is ours as we remember an amazing woman who gave so much of herself not only to her family but to everyone God brought across her path. We rejoice knowing she’s with Jesus, now healed and whole.

When we first arrived in SA 3 months ago, the children were met by gifts from the Le Roux family, friends of Oupa and Ouma who live just a couple of blocks away. Johan was a diabetic and he aggressively controlled his blood sugar levels by walking about 10km at 4am every morning. Just 6 weeks ago Ryan and Oupa joined him twice on a Sunday afternoon for the 10km walk. He has been ill for a while and Oupa and Ouma thought his symptoms resembled those of Parkinsons, but about 2 weeks ago his condition deteriorated drastically and a brain scan led the doctors to believe he might have had multiple-sclerosis. 10 days ago he was hospitalised and never came home. This morning at 9am he passed away in the ICU unit. He too has gone to be with Jesus. I wasn’t sure what to say to a family who has just lost a father and husband but I was the one spoken to when I made a meal for his 3 daughters and mom-in-law who are at home tonight and Aunty Sara (his mom-in-law) talked about God’s grace and mercy in how this all happened. Knowing God is orchestrating even the finest details of our lives is so reassuring! And He is amazing!

My heart aches when I consider what it is like for Keith or Sumaria to loose the spouse. To contemplate the future without their spouses must be daunting. And for their children, who at such a young age, have had to say goodbye to a parent. As Jed said today, it is difficult to grow up without a mom and a dad. I couldn’t have said it better myself! And while I know many others have suffered this tragedy before and lived to tell their story, tonight my heart aches with them at their loss. I can’t begin to imagine the depth of their pain and sorrow tonight – but I pray that God would comfort them all now and in the months and years that lie ahead.

I can still email/skype and maybe even see friends from Dubai and Cyprus and many other countries all over the world, but the goodbyes we’ve said to Benice and Johan are more permanent. We’ll be together again in eternity, when life on earth comes to an end for us, and that is very exciting to know!