Today I was surprised to see that my brother Elon was calling me on the phone. When I answered, there was a sort of Elon-style grunt on the other end (family dynamic for me as a sister). Then as I cheerily greeted him with a "good morning," there was just a flat, toneless, "Hi."
I sensed that something was maybe not quite the same with Elon, because even if he does some silly grunt when I call him, he usually quickly becomes human. This was taking some coaxing this time.
"How are you?" I asked, unable to think of a silly way to respond to tonelessness.
"Sad," he said.
One word. No explanation.
Suddenly I remembered.
Elon's son Ezra had flown to Africa today. Elon admitted that he was on his way home from taking Ezra to St. Louis Airport this morning and had seen his oldest son off with a one-way ticket. He does not know when he will see him again.
But he gave him anyway.
The words came to me later, "Give of thy sons to bear the message glorious..." from the hymn "O Zion Haste."
Elon was sad, but he still gave.
God had done no less for us.
But it's still hard to say goodbye to the sons and daughters we love, the ones we raised from babyhood, the ones who have been a blessing to us so many years,
especially when they are flying thousands of miles away for an indefinite amount of time. Ezra has a three-year visa.
And yet, if they don't go, who will?
Stephen Gibson, our former coworker in Ukraine, former president of EFM and current president of Holiness Pilgrim Mission, has been put on hospice, and who will fill his shoes?
Ezra has worked with Stephen Gibson for years with Shepherds Global Curriculum online, and now Ezra is going to Africa himself.
Others are saying goodbye as well. My brother Fain and Regina said goodbye to their son David who traveled to Mexico recently to spent a couple months (at least) immersing himself in culture and language there, and they are joining him soon for a couple weeks.
My sister Joella this year said goodbye to her son Ethan and his sister Charity as they enrolled at Penn View and now are both involved with Penn View's music groups.
Tuesday evening we watched the groups at their commissioning service at Beavertown God's Missionary Church. (Charity is the girl on the far left in the photo above.)
One of the ways to carry the glorious message of the gospel is in song, and I so appreciated the music Tuesday evening, including the acapella hymn, "All That Thrills My Soul Is Jesus" which Charity was part of.
And so we give our sons and daughters,
to carry a glorious message
with Godward music and ministry.
And though our feelings may be sad,
our hearts still give
to a world that is reaching--
for God first gave His Son for us.
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