little sisters

Well, it's countdown time again -- 46 days until I leave Tennessee, Alaska-bound.  I'm excited.  To be honest, I started counting down long before today, and in fact, have been wishing I was going sooner.  But a funny thing is, the closer it gets, the more real it becomes that I'm leaving my family and friends for six months, and the more I want to hang on to every one of the 46 days I have left here.  

Just now, my 12-year-old sister was sitting in my room with me, and made a comment about me being gone for six months last year and not talking to her while I was gone.  I responded that I had answered some of her emails.  She came back with, "Yeah, SOME of them. Like two!  But you answered Mama's emails!"  I made some excuse about being busy..... and then, convicted, chose to stop defending myself and said to her, "I will do better about writing to you this summer."  She just giggled and said, "You better."  And now she's sitting on the bed next to me, trying to teach herself to play my guitar.  

As much as I love Alaska and Echo Ranch, and know I'm called to be there, this is the main thing that makes it harder to go -- knowing that I'm missing six months of these girls' lives and growing up.  I just hope that as I'm following the Lord in this missionary journey, I'm somehow setting a good example for them.  And hope they know how much I love them.