Leave your country

" The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. " ~ Genesis 12:1

It's sinking in more and more that I'm leaving soon. As I'm teaching my students about erosion, I find that it's a good terminology to describe what's happening to my bubble of procrastination and denial.

Yesterday we had 2 interviews for my Grade 4 position. Both were very strong interviews. I sat listening to both gentlemen share about their classrooms and their desire to teach my Gr. 4 class and realized that one of these 2 fellows will be taking over my kids. In a month or so, my students will have a new teacher. They'll have somebody else to hug and share their problems with. They'll have somebody else thinking about their learning and what to teach them next. And handing over the kids to someone else, as much as you know they'll be in good hands, is difficult.

But it's not just my students that I'll miss dearly. My amazing colleagues have been my partners in passion for so long. Sharing about lessons, about adorable and difficult students, about your new favourite book has been so exciting. It's not easy to find a group of people that you work so well with...is it? It has been such a family of wisdom, silliness, frustrations, laughing, and community. I will miss sharing my everyday with this family at Joyce.

And it's not just school. Thinking about the family and friends that will be here in Toronto I think about all of the experiences I'll be missing with them too. So many have new babies either now or in a couple of months. How I wish I could share these special moments with them. And so many exciting things are happening at ETCBC too! I can't wait for our leadership meeting today. I just found out that we might have a chairperson now on our English Ministry Committee! Wow God is Amazing!

And oddly enough, I'm missing my country a lot. I am actually quite patriotic in my own sort of way. I LOVE CANADA. I love the hope and aspirations that come when I hear this word. I love how our country stands for peace, love and hope. I love how our country is embraced by other nations. I love how beautiful our country is that it radiates the beauty of God's creation. I'm not usually very political but for some reason this liberal leadership race has been very exciting for me. I'm excited about the hope that it holds for our country.

And in the end...faith, hope, love...is so intertwined.

Those were strong words that God gave to challenge Abram. Leave your country, your people and your father's household... I don't think of it often as a step of faith even though I read it time and time again in Hebrews...but it was. He was a pioneer for all those who have left their countries, families and homes. Now we can say it's all been said and done and see...it all works out. We have examples to follow. We have our safety nets to guide us. And it's already hard. But Abram knew nothing, had nothing, saw and heard of nothing prior to taking that step of faith to go to the land that God was calling him to. That is faith.

What do I have to fear?