{"id":12830,"date":"2020-07-25T06:17:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-25T11:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=12830"},"modified":"2020-07-25T06:17:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-25T11:17:10","slug":"so-long-farewell-adios-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=12830","title":{"rendered":"So Long, Farewell, Adios, Goodbye"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the \u201cSound of Music\u201d, when the Von Trapp family sang that song (with Auf Wiedersehen instead of Adios) as their final number at the German festival, they escaped to freedom in Switzerland. This morning, I, too, am singing that song, but it’s not because I’m escaping a negative situation to find freedom. It’s because I am saying \u201cSo long, farewell, adios, goodbye to Red River, NM.\u201d Also, saying \u201csee ya\u2019 later\u201d because I\u2019ve vowed to come back here where it has been a sweet haven of refreshing from the Texas heat, as well as reconnecting with my cousins after many years — finding joys in simple walks, talks, excursions, eating, and simply celebrating God\u2019s blessings of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019m so ever grateful to Larry and Staci for giving me this trip that will last a lifetime in my thoughts and memories. I\u2019m posting here some of my favorite memories to take with me! I love this \u201cuntil next time\u201d sign that we\u2019ll see as we depart for home. And, oh yes, I\u2019m hoping there will be a next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now, here\u2019s the thing. While this was a great week of outdoor fun and family reconnections — going home is up ahead (just in time for the cooler temperatures there) and I\u2019m as excited to get home to my sweet spot in Frisco as I was to get here. C.S. Lewis once said, \u201cOne who has journeyed in a strange land cannot return unchanged.\u201d And, he was right. I do feel changed \u2013 refreshed, rejuvenated, filled with the awe and wonder of this last week\u2019s encounters \u2013 beautiful people, captivating stories, and encountering Christ everywhere I roamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world tells us to cling to what we find here, to try to find life in the \u201ctemporary\u201d. But to quote C.S. Lewis again, \u201cIf we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.\u201d His quote is, of course, speaking of heaven \u2013 and yes, we were made with eternity in our hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In our personal lives, we have all transitioned from one place to another, but I have found that the safest, most blessed place to be on this earth is the constancy of our relationship with God and the solid place that He provides for us on a daily basis. When I\u2019m tempted to whine a little bit because I\u2019m an orphan and a widow going home to my \u201calone\u201d place again, I always come back to the truth that I am God\u2019s beloved adopted child, and my forever home is with Him. He is my rock no matter where I am or who I\u2019m with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When my heart might yearn to be back in Red River \u2013 a truly sweet spot on this earth, or in Austin with my family there (especially like yesterday which was my son\u2019s birthday) or in Tulsa with my dear friends and family there \u2013 I always remind myself to seek my heart\u2019s true home in God. We are called to be strangers and aliens here (1 Peter 2:11), but always loving and blessing the places and people God gives us, because we know we are just passing through. Our aching for home is really our aching to be home with our Savior. That, my friends will be our reality and will forever be our \u201chome sweet home\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the \u201cSound of Music\u201d, when the Von Trapp family sang that song (with Auf Wiedersehen instead of Adios) as their final number at the German festival, they escaped to freedom in Switzerland. This morning, I, too, am singing that song, but it’s not because I’m escaping a negative situation to find freedom. It’s because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18094,18091,18092,18046,18093,18095],"tags":[18090,2602,18086,1210,18085,18083,6952,4210,2859,18084,18089,18035,18087,18088,18082,10603,578],"class_list":["post-12830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c-s-lewis","category-farewell","category-goodbye","category-red-river","category-see-you-later","category-temporary-home","tag-adios","tag-alone","tag-beloved-adopted-child","tag-blog","tag-c-s-lewis-2","tag-farewell","tag-goodbye","tag-heaven","tag-memories","tag-orphan","tag-outdoor-fun","tag-red-river","tag-refreshed","tag-see-you-later","tag-so-long","tag-temporary-home","tag-widow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12839,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12830\/revisions\/12839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}