Bittersweet

This afternoon, it was our joy to help friends load the truck and take things down to the wharf.  Helping them also made us sad, because it meant that we had to say goodbye to some of our best friends.  So, during our bittersweet day, we chose to focus on the fun of working together!
 

 

Thankfully, one of our colleagues noticed the dark clouds on the horizon and grabbed some tarps before we left SITAG.  Traffic is often bumper to bumper and in the midst of our thirty minute drive, the heavens opened up and let loose with a torrent of rain.

 



I started snapping pictures of the really cute kids peeking out from under the tarp, and then my colleague riding in the front seat beside me reminded me that this vehicle had windshield wipers.  And she turned them on for me.  We make great tag-team drivers!

 



 

We drove right behind the truck most of the way to the wharf.  I stuck my head out of the window and, hollered, and offered for the kids to climb in the car with us, but they all grinned and refused.

 

The sun came out by the time we reached the wharf and began to unload boxes onto the ship.

 

 

The littlest ones checked out the fish in the ocean while the biggest ones hauled boxes.  Then Aaron drove the truck back up to SITAG, after stopping for ice cream cones on the way, while I drove wherever my friend needed to go for last minute preparations before boarding the ship.

 

 

We returned to the wharf about 8:30 tonight (after a brief scare with a van that wouldn't start) and helped our friends settle into the space that would be "home" for the next ten hours.

 

 

Finally, about 9:30, we left with lots of hugs and prayers for our friends.

 

 

When I got to the car, the bitter overcame the sweet, and I had to wait a minute so I could see through the tears to drive home.

 

 

Friends are some of God's sweetest gifts.