Chile

It's got to be the thinnest country.  I need to Google that and see...actually I use Yahoo, but you know what I mean.  Regardless, it is far, far, far away from North Carolina.  Yet, my husband will board a plane tomorrow night and make his way to the thin country of Chile.  The temp will be in the 30s and 40s and not the fabulous 80s we have been used to.  He will have fabulous views of God's creation of the Andes Mountains.  He will meet new people and observe a new culture.  But he will be so far away.

The girls don't get the fact that Chile is quite so far.  I have tried to show them on the globe, but for them, they are just as sad as when he goes to DC or Florida or Texas for a few days.  The miles and miles apart don't seem that significant; they just miss Daddy when he is gone for a couple of nights regardless of where he is.  I on the other hand am trying to not to panic.  It is so far away! He can't be home in a day if I absolutely needed him to be.  And, my biggest fear, I don't have a passport, so if I needed to get to him... I could not!

When my youngest was a baby he went to Canada for a whole week.  But at least that is the same continent.  So as I make a to-do list, make our plans to take him and pick him up at the airport, figure out how we will communicate (It will be $2.49 a minute, but at least we can make it work!), and make our plans to keep ourselves busy while he is away, I am praying constantly to keep him safe.  Every few minutes I whisper, "Please take care of him!"  And I calm down and take a breath.

Right now, I am focusing on the positives and not the miles!

- He is only gone 3 nights!
- He will meet two colleagues there, so he will not be alone!
- Amazingly and unbeknownst to us, Chile is the same time zone as NC!
- It is an awesome opportunity for him!
- He has a really cool job!
- I know he loves us and will miss us just as much as we miss him when he is away.
- Thank you God for the technology to stay connected!  Yay Skype!
- And last but certainly not least...no matter if he is driving in a car up to Eden everyday or flying to the furthest point of the world...he is right in the middle of God's hand!

Our VBS verse for next week is resonating in my heart!  It is a favorite and just what I needed as I send him off to a far away place...

Today's Verse
2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


Oh I am so thankful for that!


And just for an educational FYI, I did search before finishing this post and here is the description I found.  Still don't know if it is the actual thinnest, but it sounds cool!

With a toothy coastline of 2,650 miles (4,265 km), Chile accounts for more than half of the western coastline of South America. This razor-thin country is wedged between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, the Earth's longest mountain range.