I love meeting new people, but I have never been good at saying goodbye.
What a tough spot to be in on this World Race journey where I’m constantly meeting new people and then just as consistently saying goodbye. Eleven months of meeting new people, making new friends and learning so much from each of them, knowing that I would have to say some of the hardest goodbyes at least eleven times.
I find so much joy in the hellos at the beginning of each month. Not even just at the beginning of the month, but throughout the entirety of it.
As the goodbyes approach, I tend to shut myself off a little bit – possibly in hopes that the goodbyes will hurt less, but knowing fully that nothing gets easier.
Before I left for the Race, I don’t think I realized just how difficult it would be to say goodbye every three and a half to four weeks. I knew it would be hard, but it wasn’t truly going to hit me until it happened.
Having been to Haiti a few times, and to a few different places in Haiti, I had learned that it doesn’t take long to make connections and friendships with people, and I always had a hard time saying goodbye. Each time I was in Haiti, I was there for roughly 7-10 days, which meant that I went hard in getting to know the people I was surrounded by.
Being on the Race, we have the opportunity to spend 25-28 days getting to know people, rather than 7-10. It gives us significantly more time to get to know the people we are around consistently.
When we left Mahapleu, Côte d’Ivoire in early February, we said goodbye to some of the sweetest people who loved us so incredibly well. After saying our final goodbye in Abidjan, I went into the apartment where we were staying, and cried like you wouldn’t believe. (These tears stemmed from a combination of many different things, but in the moment I was torn apart by saying goodbye to such sweet friends).
A few weeks ago, we said goodbye to the team from California. We had known them for 8 days and God blesses us with such sweet friendships and so much growth.
Last week, we as a team said goodbye to Micaela, our Alumni Team Leader. She came with us for our first two months on the field to help us gain an understanding in how to do the World Race. We knew that she would only be with us for a short amount of time, but two months went by a lot faster than anticipated.
Tomorrow morning, we will be saying goodbye to our hosts, and the sweet friends we have made here in Keta. This month has been cool because Angie, one of our hosts is from the States. She moved to Ghana thirteen years ago and has been doing ministry with her husband and kids since.
No matter how hard it can be to say goodbye, I am thankful for the difficult goodbyes. Why? Because God has given me the opportunity to get to know people and to love people well. What kind of life would we be living if we didn’t spend time getting to know people because we didn’t want to have to let go? God has given us the opportunity to love and show compassion to everyone we meet, and I am thankful for being able to love well.
