Goodbye, Farewell,and Amen

"The nearer I approach the end, the clearer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the world which invite me.  It is marvelous yet simple.  For half a century (or 18 months)....I have tried all but I feel that I have not said a thousandth part of that which is in me. When I go down to the grave I can say like many others, 'I have finished my day's work' but I cannot say, 'I have finished my life's work'... my day's work will begin in the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley.  It is an open thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight to open in the dawn.  My work is only the beginning, my work is hardly above its foundation.  I would gladly see it mounting forever. The thirst for the infinite proves infinity" - Victor Hugo

So, I know this is a little dramatic and I'm not literally dying and blah, blah, blah, but I have come to the all too clear conclusion that my mission has set me up to now be the best missionary I can be.  These past 18 months was the MTC for my life, giving me direction, understanding, self-control, and love and now as strange as it is to say/think/feel/taste(?), I am all the more ready to now come back and be the consecrated person I want to be.  My mission isn't over because, as Victor Hugo said, "my thirst for the infinite proves infinity."

I don't know everything, but I know God is there and by receiving glimpses of the divine and feeling the presence of heavenly power as I've sought diligently for it, has set me on the path to achieving the infinite.  It is here in Belgium and the Netherlands, as smelly and free-thinking as they are, that I have raised mine Ebenezer and will always be able to look back on these 18 months as a source of strength and hope to know that if I can talk to some bot Noord-Hollanders about God, then I can basically get through anything:)

Well, this is crazy, but I suppose that's my life and now it won't be documented by weekly emails, but that's okay.  Let it be known that I love this place and all the random people that live here!  I know that everything works out for the good of them that love God and what a privilege it is to love Him! My heart is content, if not beating just a little slower, what with all the Nutella, waffles, Belgian fries and what not:)

Well, I'll see ya'll on the other side!
Liefs, Zuster Dobler

P.S. I've been planning this email title for months now, shoutout to MASH:)