Goodbyes

It’s painful to imagine that I may never see some of these dear friends, my church family and the place that has been home these last few years. At times I wonder if I know what I’m doing. I ask myself why things have to change.

But what a joy to know that this is not the end. It’s the beauty of the hope we share in Jesus. To know that though we are separated by distance we have an eternal future together. The blessing of our church family here is but a taster of our true eternal reality.

It’s an amazing hope that frees us to enjoy the blessings God gives us now and endure the challenges without worrying about missing out. After all, we have a whole lifetime together. An unending adventure with the God who made the oceans and carved the mountains.

I feel greatly privileged to know that as I leave family and my best friends behind I have family and friends waiting ahead. It’s such a blessing to know that wherever we go we have a family as Christians. The world though not our home is full of dear brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers and grandparents in our shared faith.

In the words of our dear King:

29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10.

So we really never say goodbyes as Christians. It’s more like see you soon when the Lord allows before seeing you forever in our shared eternal future.

#leavingfamilybehind #countdown