Saying the Amens

The Fireside Room at Hidden Hollows

  Some of our favorite people just left the room, and I felt a loud Amen.  I didn't hear it audibly, but I was aware of it nonetheless.   It was the last meeting of our house church group to be held in this, our house of 40 years.  We are moving out before the next meeting two weeks from now, so a chapter of our lives is drawing to a close.  Amen.
  At the end of every formal gathering of the church there is often a benediction, sometimes in the form of a blessing, and the end of the benediction is punctuated with an "Amen".  It is a stamp of approval, a "so-be-it" that adds affirmation and finality to what just took place.
  So I am experiencing this sweet Amen as our friends drive away from our front door for the last time.  Our own kids drove away years ago and found careers and new friends who turned into spouses in places farther west.  Amen.
  After hosting foster kids for 17 years, we said goodbye to the last of them a few years ago as they waddled out the door dragging their black garbage bags filled with their few belongings.  Amen.
  Five foreign exchange students from Russia, France, Brazil, Costa Rica and Columbia came and went.  Amen.
  Three successful businesses that were headquartered here have recently closed.  Amen.
  Several ministries centered here, from a retreat center to a mini-monastery, have run their course.  Satisfying Amen.
  The "Missions" posters that covered the walls of the fireside room are being distributed to whomever would like them, so the wall is half empty now.  Gratifying Amen.
  The pantry door under the stairs is closed now where the girls used to use the pencil sharpener that was there and then jot a note on the walls and undersides of the stairway:  "I am satan's personal nightmare! Signed, Wendi Lee Sims, June 7, 1992".  Nostalgic Amen.
  Three years ago we were dismissed from our lifelong local congregation where we were made aware that we were no longer welcome.  Our views did not conform, we no longer fit.  Thirty-five years of youth work, missions trips, and worship leading ended unceremoniously.  Gut-wrenching Amen.
  Books, keepsakes, surplus office supplies and well-worn furniture are all being re-assigned to friends and family and the "keepers" put into storage for the next place we might live.  Exhausting Amen.
  This big old house has emptied out and is now too large for two people, especially during the long Michigan winters where living space has to be heated for seven months of the year.  We are hitting the road in a few days, following that wind that I spoke of in an earlier blog (See "The Holy Spirit of Adventure"), so our Amens are not unhappy ones if a bit wistful.
  When we drive away from here we also drive toward the next good destination.  Off to see the world, so to speak, in an old camper, finally pursuing our recent quest to hang out with sinners for awhile, having spent our entire first 60 years hanging out mostly with fellow believers.      Finally being the salt of the earth.
  Before we both have to say life's final Amen, we're going to have some fun in some new places!  All fun is God's fun. (Huh?)
  Amen and amen!
  
  We are excited to be heading toward the next new adventure, and that is helping us to say the necessary Amens to the past.  What Amens have you had to say in life (leave something or draw it to a close), and were they positive or negative experiences?