Yesterday was a hard day, saying goodbye to one of my dearest friends Helena. Our lives intersected last summer when we both started praying together on Wednsday mornings. Then we started praying together on Tuesday mornings, Wednsday evenings and Sunday evenings. That foundation of prayer set the stage of building a life-long friendship. There is something really cool about having a prayer partner – you become vulnerable, honest with each other and develop a friendship that cuts through all the superficial stuff and right down to the core.

We have prayed together, wept together, laughed together (and sometimes at each other), seen miraculous answers to prayer and also learnt some very interesting lessons about persevearance, trust and patience. In January this year we had a great few days in New York City visiting the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church and attending their amazing prayer meeting with over 2000 attendees – talk about amazing! I still remember seeing the word pray scrawled above the train tracks on the filthy wall of the New York subway system in Brooklyn and remembering that even when things are difficult and ugly around you, prayer is the only answer and it works!

For the past year and a half we have prayed together at least 3-4 times per week and emailed each other almost every day…I guess you could say we are kindred spirits. Yesterday I drove Helena and her husband Jan and son Dilan to the airport and said goodbye as they go on holiday to Holland for three weeks. They return the day after we depart for Nairobi. Sitting here, I can’t stop fighting the tears. God not only sent me a surrogate sister, but a dear friend, an intercessor, a woman who has depth of character. Helena, as you gave me the hug in the airport yesterday, I didn’t want to let you go. I will miss you terribly.

So that was my first big goodbye and is the start of many more hard goodbyes for all of us. We have just three weeks left.

Last Thursday evening we had a really nice goodbye sendoff dessert party hosted by my parents at their house and it was so wonderful to visit with everyone who came to support us. It really means alot to us.

My friend Mina made a beautiful farewell cake with handmade sugar flowers which I’ve posted here as well – Mina is such a special, steadfast friend and we have known each other when our eldest girls were just over a year old and we ran a mom and tot’s group together. My Hannah and her Marissa are best friends and it will be very hard for them to say goodbye to each other too.