A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season,

 and a time for every matter under heaven.  Ecc 3:1

There was a time for me to live in South Asia:
      a time to learn a new language and culture;
      a time to fall in love with my city,
           and a time to experience culture shock;
      a time for sweating it out in the crippling heat,
           and a time to discover cooking with mutton;
     a time to make new friends,
           and a time to share stories of Truth and Hope;
      a time to help the least of these - the poor, hurting, dying;
      a time for learning really hard lessons;
      a time to learn to depend on Him alone;
      a time to be outside of my comfort zone,
           and a time to be stretched beyond what I thought possible
      a time for trials and difficulties, and a time for laughter and fun;
      a time to see Dad working among the nations,
           and a time to rejoice as I saw Him move. 

Now it is time to say goodbye.  It is time to say goodbye to all the places and people I have come to love.  Saying goodbye is bittersweet.  I am going to miss living here.  I am going to miss my friends.  I am going to miss the sights and sounds and smells to which I've become accustomed.  I am going to miss the unpredictability and the warm, relational way of life.  I am sad to say goodbye to this time of my life, but I am also so thankful for the season I had overseas.  And I am excited to see what is in store for the next season of my life.  I am trusting in the One who controls all time because I know that just as He was sovereign over my last 2 years, so will he be sovereign over my next 2 years.  All time is in His hands, and I rejoice for the time I spent in South Asia and look eagerly to the future.