Saying Goodbye

Hello everyone,

We want to update everyone on the past few weeks. It has been a crazy few weeks for sure as we have been very busy creating lists of all of our belongings and trying to sell them all in just a few short weeks. After arriving back from Amsterdam on July 31st our family became sick with a stomach virus all while we should have been getting ready to come back to the States. But God is good and through the stress of it all we managed to get our items listed and able to sell about 90%+ of our belongings. The remaining amount we gave to the local church and Ukrainian refugee ministries. God truly blessed us during this time. On August 19th we packed up all the items we are taking to the States into 14 checked bags and 4 carry-ons and said goodbye to our apartment. We are thankful for our team for helping us with the packing and taking items to the local ministries/churches. We could not have done it without them. Since moving out we have been living out of our suitcases in an Airbnb while we wait for our departure date of August 31.

During this time, we have spent countless hours saying goodbye to our local partners, friends, and teammates. We have been so fortunate to have met so many people here in Bucharest who have cared for us and our children. We have shed so many tears as a family and will likely continue to shed more as we depart for the States. One example of how people have loved on our family came from our whole team and some leadership throwing a goodbye party for us and inviting all our close friends. This was such a special moment as we got to spend time with them all and eat one last meal with them. They also prayed over our family which was such a blessing. Another example is that Emerson’s school allowed him to come back and spend the afternoon with his class and say goodbye to everyone. He was supposed to be starting Kindergarten this year, but now we will be homeschooling him until we figure out our next steps in the States. Fortunately, Brooke is an amazing teacher.

We also want to thank many people from the King, NC and surrounding area where I am originally from. We do not know you all personally, but you have reached out to my parents and asked what we need during this transition and have provided so much to us. We are forever grateful because you are making this transition easier. God bless you all! We also want to thank close friends from our home church who took time out of their weekend a few days ago to help mine and Brooke’s parents get the church home we will be temporarily staying in ready for us while we say our goodbyes here in Romania.

We will be back soon and look forward to seeing you in the States. Thank you all for following our journey here in Romania and praying for us. It hasn’t been an easy journey but so many great memories have been made along with so many great friendships. This will also be remembered as the place that Claira Grace was born. Romania and its people will always be in our hearts, and we love you very much!

Please be praying for our plane ride on August 31 as a we have a 2-hour flight to Germany and a 10-hour flight to Charlotte. Also, please pray for our transition to America as it has been two years since we left and there will be a lot of emotions.