Last Sunday, we had to say our first goodbye to our teammate Amber. Amber decided, for a number of reasons, that it was time for her to return home to America a month early.
This goodbye got me thinking about all the other goodbyes I have said in the past, and the goodbyes to come.
I was born with a desire to travel. A desire to leave home. A desire to experience the world. I first left home when I was 16 to work at a camp for the summer. I went away to school. I am currently spending my summer in Africa, and in a few weeks, I’ll fly to Ireland. This lifestyle makes me feel like I am constantly leaving people. Like I am constantly saying goodbye.
Sometimes we say goodbye to people in this world and we do not get to say hello again. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will. Since the world is an imperfect place, people leave permanently. It’s hard, feels unfair, and it will leave you asking why you even bother trying.
But heres the thing: With God, there are no “goodbyes.” Only “I’ll see you laters.”
We are promised an eternal life together. Everyone we’ve ever said goodbye to, my grandparents, my camp friends, my college friends, the beautiful of Swaziland, my family, and everyone else in between who proclaims that His name is holy.
So I guess the title of this blog isn’t right. It wasn’t the first “goodbye” of this season, it was the first “I’ll see you later.” And while it was hard, felt unfair and too soon, I know that we will all be together again in the blink of an eye, be that in the GA Airport, or the Kingdom of Heaven. How blessed we are to get to say “I’ll see you later.”
