Saying goodbye has never been an easy thing for me to do but it seems like I always find myself saying those words. I can remember my first goodbye to church family, family and high school friends when I went 10 hours away to college at Howard University. I remember how difficult it was to say goodbye to dear college friends, Danielle and Ashley, when I felt the need to transfer schools. My goodbyes at Cambellsville University turned into hellos and more goodbyes in Cangzhou China.
I found myself saying goodbye again after teaching at Oneida Baptist Institute for a year.
Then I had my sad goodbyes with Tigist after making a home in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.
Most recently I sad goodbye to my church family once again, my co-workers and residents at All God’s Children and today my exercise partners at Jazzercise.
After a year I will have said goodbye 11 more times.
You would think that goodbye would flow out of my mouth much easier now, but the more I say it, the more meaningful it really is. As I grow older, I build stronger relationships with people. God places people in my life like, Melissa and Kevin, who I get to see grow in their love for the Lord.
While saying goodbye brings about many tears, it causes more joy to build up inside. I find myself praising God for placing wonderful people in my life. I start to see that God places some people in our lives for a season. Every relationship should have a purpose and glorify the Lord.
God has placed YOU in my life.
I thank God for you, for you have strengthened my relationship with Him in someway or another. I hope that I have been a blessing to you as well. I don’t want to be alone in saying goodbye. I hope that you can be right alongside of me experiencing these goodbyes. See, as I leave my town on Saturday afternoon, I am saying goodbye to my old self and that is the most difficult goodbye.
Coming back a completely changed individual means that I have to allow my own self to die so that God may live through me. I hope you can say goodbye to your old self too, because through the blogs that the Lord allows me to write these next 11 months, there will be a door of opportunity for you to change your perceptions of people, behaviors towards those different from you, and ultimately your relationship with the Lord.
