Pair of Ducks

We returned to Davis last night after spending approximately four weeks on the road, most of our time being spent at Mission Training International in Colorado. We are grateful for a challenging and engaging training and God's protection during several snow storms that we forged through during the drive home.

As 40 adults were learning upstairs in the training center, approximately 25 children were receiving similar training downstairs. Although most of our curriculum was different, there were some similarities built into the program. A pair of ducks is something we ALL learned about.

If you say "pair of ducks" fast enough, you'll hear something that sounds a lot more like "paradox." At our training, we learned that many of our experiences can be described by this word. In each "pair of ducks" there is a yay duck and a yuck duck.

In some ways, your heart will be saying "yay!" and it other ways it will be saying "yuck!"—often at the same time.

For example, we just purchased our tickets for the flight over. We leave January 12th. The yay duck in us is thrilled to finally begin this adventure, after much waiting and anticipation. The yay duck is so hopeful in this calling we're received, and we can't wait to see what the Lord will do in and through us. The yay duck says "Let's go!"

The yuck duck in us is experiencing great sorrow just thinking about the loved ones we'll leave behind. The yuck duck want to resist leaving our community in Davis, our careers, and some of our favorite hobbies. The yuck duck says "How can we possibly leave?"

As you can imagine, its a very emotional time for us. This week will bring many goodbyes. Thank you for praying and caring for us in the midst of the yays and the yucks.