Mixed Emotions

We are wrapping up another term here on the mission field.  As we approach our departure date, we do it with mixed emotions.  A part of us wants to go to the States and be with our family and friends and yet another part of us doesn't want to leave.  So why do missionaries put themselves in these difficult and uncomfortable positions?  There are a variety of reasons, to be honest, unless you are a missionary, you may not understand.  I've heard from very dear folk that we missionaries should be used to leaving and saying good-byes.  Listen, just because we've been doing it for 20 years doesn't make it easier.
Twenty years ago we left our family and friends in Indiana and made the long trek to Mexico City.  At the time we had a three year old son.  It wasn't easy leaving but having our little family to lean on as we went was comforting.  It was a new adventure and this is how we presented it to our son.  Children are very adaptable and look forward to new things.  At least this is how we looked at it at the time and it worked.  We adjusted well even though the circumstances around us were very difficult.  (long story that I don't want to go into at this time)  Fast forward to today... Now we have three children.  One left our nest when he was just 17 years old.  We sent him to the States for his senior year in high school.  I'll be honest, I was miserable that year.  I wanted to be with my son and experiencing all the things that other parents get to experience when their child is a senior.  I grew tremendously in my prayer life that year.  Much of it done with lots of tears.
We as a family take a year furlough because we believe it is important for our children to experience a school year in a regular school.  Homeschooling has been nice but it has been difficult and sometimes impossible to give our children all that they need to prepare them for the next chapter; college.  We don't have co-op groups here on the field.  We don't have libraries either.  We have been very fortunate to be able to bring down many books and other materials to help our children along.
Believe it or not we've had folks in the States question us on taking a full year.  I've heard some say that, "I've never gotten a year's vacation".  Let me say right here, our furlough is not a vacation.  We do a lot of driving, and then some more driving and we don't arrive at a resort where we can turn off our phones, sit at the pool, forget about our work, etc.  We do get to visit with some of the bestest folks in the world.  We also have the privilege to worship together and man do we eat good. We get to rejoice in all that the Lord is doing in Mexico City and around the world.   In many cases, this is better than a vacation!  
We plan to be gone 13 months this furlough.  We want to enroll our daughter Natalie in college and make sure that she is adjusting well to this before we return to the field.  It is getting harder rather than easier for us to leave the States as we will leave two of our children there.  I know they are there with my parents, a good church, a great college group, etc.  But still... I'm a mother and it still is hard.  We've gone a whole year without seeing our son when he was in college.  We are very thankful for our special blessing: Nicole.  I can't imagine coming back to Mexico City without a child.  This will be difficult for her.  She won't have anyone in the house to play with.  She has done pretty well in this category but she also will not have a sibling to talk to, to tease and believe it or not, to argue with.
This furlough year is also a time for us to pay attention to our health.  We all will have medical work done on us to make sure we are doing all that we can to be good stewards of our bodies.  This is the only time we pay attention to our health.  We don't do yearly check-ups on any of us.  We only go to the doctor when we feel deathly ill.  That rarely happens.  We have had to tend to our daughter Natalie and her back issues.  We are so thankful for the loving care she received last summer.  Her life is so much better than it was a year ago.  She will always have some pain but she has learned how to deal with it through exercises that help relax the area, yet strengthen her core.
We also use our furlough year to get more training.  We go to conferences that will help us to be more effective missionaries.  We learn so much from visiting each and every one of our support churches.  None of our churches are a like and each one has strengths which they are maximizing in different ways and different ministries.  We use all this here in our church plant.  We get to try things that we've seen in our churches back in the States.  This is one of our best ways to be creative in the ministry.
So, furloughs are great for our family and our ministry.  We go through adjustments that seem uncomfortable in the moment and God uses them to grow us.  Our children learn what it is like to be a stranger in a new place and they go back and work hard to make others feel at home.  That's worth it isn't it?  We all continue to grow in our understanding that this Place is all just temporary.  There is so much better in the next Chapter--Heaven!  This is truly what it is all about!  We all are serving Him, bringing others to Him so that in eternity we can all worship Him!
Furloughs are just apart of God's plan for the Hornbrook family and many other missionary families.  Furloughs come in many different shapes and sizes.  Sometimes the purpose is to raise more funds, sometimes they are useful for more training but they all serve great purposes.  I'm so thankful for our Home Church and all the love they have for their missionaries.  We always feel welcomed, loved and very well cared for.  Our church here in Mexico City has had to grow fast as we are leaving our church plant without a full time pastor.  The folks have jumped in and taken ownership of all the responsibilities that are involved in keeping a church of 90 to 100 going!  Us leaving is a good thing.  Our church family here in Mexico City has had to interact more with one another  and has had to learn some valuable lessons in communication.  This is all good. Pray with us as we maximize on our time left here and as we adjust to life back in the States.  Sometimes we missionaries come across as odd or different.  Don't let this keep you from getting to know us.  We've been out of the U.S. culture long enough to not know all the lingo but I believe we all can learn from each other!