A Final Blessing

Early Monday morning.
Bags are packed.  Still a few dishes in the sink.  Thankfully we got all the garbage out last night for our one last garbage pick up this morning!  A few random items we decided not to pack are strewn about.  Fridge is emptied.  Freezer is packed.  Time to shut down the house for the first half of the winter.  We leave MSP today at 3:15 and will arrive in Amsterdam about midnight (MN time).  After a three hour layover there we head to Dar es Salam where we will hotel it for a night before heading to Zanzibar for a few days of R & R.

What a blessing it was in worship yesterday as the congregation gathered to worship with joy and enthusiasm before sending us off with their blessing.  Floyd had the whole congregation join hands (even the balcony folks had to come down for it!) and we prayed for our family, for the congregation, and for Pastor Conrad Warner and his wife, Susan.  It was a good day.

The day ended with a visit to our dear friend, Jill Gustafson.  Carrie and I went to her home to say our goodbyes.  Jill is dying from cancer.  It was good.  But what was even better, and what I will take with me on this journey, is her blessing.  With a laborer effort, and very soft-spoken voice, she reached up traced my baptismal cross on my forehead and said these words to me, "May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord make his face to shine upon you.  May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and grant you peace.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen."

Thank you Jill.  That was my final blessing for this trip, and one I will hold tightly to as we journey.
Carrie and I were so blessed to be in your presence and to hear you say, "God bless you on your journey."  The same to you Jill.  The same to you.

Peace,

Dale