01.)Shock: The shock is always there, because these are people you will not see often, if ever, again, unless the Lord changes plans for your (or their) lives. The only way to deal with such shock is through faith in the Lord's timing and His perfect Will for His children's lives.
02.) Sorrow: Not sorrow for their obedience (great joy for that, and for their faith in the Lord!!), but sorrow for their physical absence from our lives. These are people we talk to on a regular basis, ask spiritual advice from, and pray for regularly. These are friends whose children we have watched grow and taken care of ourselves. These are people we have learned many great spiritual truths from and from these truths have matured in Christ. These are true friends, not those you simply work with, have casual conversations with, or write simply "Love, the Bussard family" in your Christmas card to....but true friends, and we hate to see them go. There is not counter for this sorrow but faith. Faith that God knows what he is doing in all our lives and faith that our bonds of friendship will hold us together while hundreds of miles apart, rather than an exit off 640 or Emory Rd.
03.) Wonder: God works in so many amazing ways and has an eternal plan that would blow my mind if I attempted to decipher it. If you told me in February that I would be working as an agent for US Cellular and a Server at Cracker Barrel now, I would have laughed in your face, thinking you were joking. If you told me that the Troells and Hilliards were leaving in August of this year, I might have done the same. It amazes me to see the Lord work and you cannot truly help but wonder what He has planned for these families, Temple Baptist, and ourselves...
04.) Thankfulness: For the time we were able to spend together, to kindle the friendships, and to make them last. For the patience of mature believers with immature college kids who had (and still have) no idea what they are doing in the Lord's work other than surviving by faith. For the countless blessings and prayers given by these friends to people who deserve far less. For the Lord's guidance and provision in their lives. For God's blessing of children given to these couples and the joy they have in raising them. For the knowledge and assurance that these couples are true believers in Christ who will do anything He wills them to do with the joy that only He can give to those He loves and commands.
05.) Hope: As believers we always have hope. We have the hope of the glorious return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will take us from this wretched world to be with Him forever. We have the hope that all believers have of one day being taken to Glory to be with Christ and every believer for eternity. We have hope. Even if our friends leave and we never see them again on this world, as heartbreaking as that may be, we have the hope of seeing them in Heaven...and what a glorious day that will be!
Our friends are leaving, not because of personal goals, but due to the call of a heavenly Captain that has another station for them. They have been reassigned by Heaven's Central Command to do tasks that only God knows they can do. It is a noble calling, and one that they are willing to take, even if it means leaving the safety of Knoxville, TN, but truly, the only safe place is that where the Lord calls you to. We wish our friends the best, and want them to know that we will be here praying for them, and that they will always, truly be our friends...
