Oh, Abba.

My family left last night. A bittersweet goodbye. We dropped them off at the airport only to face the airport security guys rushing us through our hugs and kisses and shed tears.

As I live here in Ghana longer and longer, I realize that my dependence on The Lord has to increase more and more to sustain me. The distance from my loved ones hangs before me and I feel the full stretch of it this morning.

But the Lord sustains. Even in the hardest places, the Lord is present.

And I have to trust that truth in the moments of sadness when I just long for the faces and arms of the ones I love.

This morning, as I led worship for my family here in Ghana, God brought to mind the picture of my Abba Father. The Father who thought of me before the world began. The Father who chose me for this time and this place. The Father who holds me close in his arms when I need a comfort that can't be filled any other way. I needed that picture and hold it in my heart as I release my earthly family back home to the US.