Departure!

This is starting to feel very real. Departure in mere hours, many needles over the last few weeks, constant email checking and cell-phone-minute-adding, and now...my ever present, always increasing list of questions. The last 3 days have been filled with running erands (there seems to always be one last thing I forgot), lunches and dinners and coffee house parties. What a wild time. And in reality, it is not starting to feel real at all, in fact it gets more unreal by the minute. I'm imagining myself in the Colombo airport looking around like the lost and confused child I'm sure I will be. A great piece of advice this week was that it really starts to sink in when you find yourself immersed in new smells, textures, sounds and incredibly hot, humid air. So here's to being drowned in it!

This summer has been quite an adventure for us, we've never been homeless and unemployed before. So the last few months have been completely different and actually really wonderful. We have now stayed in at least a dozen different places (homes, trailers, campgrounds, hotels and even a boat!) since the end of July. So THANK YOU to all of you who hosted us and offered to host us.

Kyle and Jamie, (hosts and storage unit), my parents Wes and Jan Brooks, Heather and Jonathan (numerous times with short notice), Scott and Rachelle, Company of Adventurers (employers, friends, support and a free place to stay for 3 weeks...), Trevor and Katey, Colleen and Nevin (and Silas), Scott's parents Dave and Joyce Thompson (hosted us in several different cities), Juanita and Dane, Dibskis, CoA again, my folks again in Grande Prairie, Kyle and Jamie again, the SALTS boat and Bishop Pinkham for Scott, Yogi and Judy for me (unlimited computer hours and the start of this blog), Kyle and Jamie again...

You have all been wonderful and we appreciate your support and hospitality. One of the great gifts we received in this last months is being forced to receive! So thanks to all our great friends and our wonderful families! We can't wait to share this journey with you over the next year.

Also thanks to our small group at Rockpointe church (you guys are our Calgary family and we'll miss you so much!) as well as the Elders board and pastoral staff for their awesome support, especially Bruce Piercey who got us connected!

Dorothy DeVuyst at Samaritan's Purse who has worked tirelessly on our behalf and our new community in Sri Lanka that has already made us feel so welcome and answered all our innumerable questions

The CoA crew this summer for all your hopes and encouragement for us.
Thanks Sue for sharing yourself.

Glennis for an awesome celebration at the PicNic and a great Sushi lunch (HazMat and everything!)

Tarra and Sharon for great heart to hearts.

All of you who connected with us and encouraged us and sent us off with good wishes and prayers. We so appreciated your presence at coffee houses

Our parents and siblings who have supported us and shared our excitement and encouraged us.

Thanks most of all to the Creator and Sustainer who inspires us and gives us hope.