Bowlin Bunch

I have never been very good at good-byes. In fact, that is one thing that I am constantly not improving on. No matter how many times people leave or I leave a place, I end up crying and feeling so broken-hearted. I remember when I first came over here, I met Josh Bowlin. He had come up to lead youth group at Shore Grace. He was awesome. The following week, I met his wife Becca and their two daughters, Caile and Averie. I can honestly say that I have never seen two more beautiful little girls.

The Bowlin family have been over here for two years doing missionary work through Global Partners. At our first Global Partners meeting, I knew that I was going to connect well with Becca. I was new to the environment and the people and she was there with a smile on her face and a warm heart. I knew that I had found a life-long friend when it came to ministry.
From that day on, any chance that I got to hang out with the Bowlins, I took. They became not only family, but really close friends in a short amount of time. Being able to be a part of watching their two adorable girls grow up has been remarkable and such a blessing. I will forever cherish the time that I was able to spend with them.

The Bowlin family left today to go back to Indiana to do home mission for a year. They are appointed as career missionaries to New Zealand and so they have to go back over and raise support to cover their four years in New Zealand that they will hopefully start this coming September. I am so excited for them, but a part of me hurts at the same time.

I could not help but think that I am the next one leaving. I have been here for three and a half months and I only have three more left. The time has seriously flown by and that makes me incredibly sad. Walking into that airport today was petrifying because I knew that in a short while, I would be doing that same thing, except I don’t know when/if I will be coming back.

The Bowlins had tons of people show up to the airport to send them off. That was such a huge blessing and an encouragement to see. I hope that I have the same thing happen to me as well. I am starting to learn that ministry is difficult. There will be people coming in and out of your life so frequently and you just have to adapt to it. I am not great at that. I am very empathic toward people, so that does not help in the process.

As much as it broke my heart to see them happy to go, I could not help but be glad for them at the same time. When I hugged Josh he said, “I’ll see you back here,“ and I said, “I don’t know if I’m coming back.“ He said, “You’re coming back.“ We will have to see about that. The last hug today was from Becca. We both looked at each other and just started crying. She said, “Stop that!” and I said the same thing back to her. A piece of their heart is left in New Zealand and a piece of my heart is left with the Bowlin family.