Goodbye, Sae

Early this afternoon, we said good-bye to Sae. She and her 28 classmates are headed back to Japan after 3 1/2 busy weeks in America. It always amazes me just how quiet a house can seem when only 7 people now live in it (even when that 8th person didn't make a lot of noise!). Please pray for safety as she travels home.

Many people ask us why we continue to host when we already have such a busy and full, house and life. There are so many reasons we do - six of which are the wonderful young people who have come from around the world to be a part of our lives. Getting to know each of them has always been worth the pain of saying good-bye. Hosting allows us to share our faith and our lives with some of the brightest students at the top universities in Japan. Our Asian children are given some wonderful role models to look up too and spend time with, and we all are reminded again of just how small our world really is. Adding one person to our family actually often increases our family time, as we are more deliberate in spending time together and going on fun outings as we show our student around Minnesota. We are reminded that even the "small things", like sitting down to dinner together or playing outside in the snow, are moments to be treasured and enjoyed. And this program is so well run that we can trust that any big issues that could possibly come up would immediately be taken care of.

Good-bye, Sae - Thanks for being brave enough to get on that airplane 3 1/2 weeks ago to come and live with a bunch of strangers. We are all going to miss you!