Goodbye

Goodbye is one of the hardest words to say. Almost anytime someone says it, at least a little bit of sorrow comes with it, am I right? But why? Why does it feel like someone's piercing you way deep inside? Why does it hurt so much?

Most of the time I think, is that we're afraid of forgetting. You don't want to lose all the precious memories you have had with that someone or something. You know you'll never be able to get them back, so you hold tightly to those memories, hoping the day would never come that you would forget.

It seems like I've had to say this word quite a lot in recent weeks...saying goodbye to all my friends here, and to all the junk I've kept with me all these years, hoping I'll never forget. I could not and and can not do it alone. I've had a couple times where I've just broken down and had to surrendered it all to God. It seems like every time I say it, the pain somehow makes its way a little deeper in my heart more than it previously had. But somehow (with God's help) it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I imagined it would. I've already had to say goodbye to some of my best friends, but God is so faithful and has helped me get through it every time.

Tonight after saying one of the hardest goodbyes I'll have to say, I opened my Bible and began to read. He helped me realize that yes, it hurts now, but He can use me way more there than He could use me here in America...where I've gotten way too comfortable. He showed me that I've already been able to share God's love and my love to many people here and it's time to spread it to a new place, with new people, and a new need. I'm called to ultimately share love with them in helping them in their desperate physical need. They've lost all hope because we, as the body of Christ, have failed to share hope with them. We as a whole have gotten comfortable in our own little worlds that we don't let God open our eyes to need that might cause us to get up, out of our comfort zones. We have failed to be His hands and feet. It's about time we take our hands away from our eyes and our ears and comprehend the need that's increasing around us. It's time we rise and do what God has called ALL of us as Christians to do. We need to surrendered all we are and all we have to Him.

So yes, we're saying goodbye here, but let me tell you, we're getting ready to say a whole lot more hello's where we are headed. God calls us to give EVERYTHING and follow Him. It'll be worth it.