Goodbyes are Hard

I am continuing to realize that adult friendships are about cherishing the amount of time you have in the same place as people.  We have so many friendships that have profoundly impacted our lives.  Some we have been lucky enough to live within an hour of them for most or all of that time.  Others we are lucky enough to get for a season before they move to another state to move back closer to family or for an exciting job opportunity.  Thankfully with social media and cell phones you never really lose those people but you do lose the chance to see them regularly and share little everyday moments of life with them.  We found out a couple Sundays ago that one of the couples in our small group will be moving up north to Pennsylvania for his job.  This is one of the couples we started our current small group with and that we’ve grown very close to over the past year or so.  During worship in the 11 AM service I felt tears welling up and I felt that familiar pit in my stomach.  The selfish feeling that wants to keep people I love in close proximity to me for as long as possible.  The anxiety of what it means for our small group and us personally and how much we’ll miss them.  As I processed the news and after some time passed I also felt thankfulness for the time we have had with them and excitement for them and how God will use them in their new community. 

I am trying to dwell in the thankfulness and the excitement for their new adventures.  And remind myself that this means they get to make new friends who they’ll impact and influence as deeply as they have us.  It also means we’ll have space in our lives to invite in new people to share our lives with.  I will still cry big fat tears when they move and will miss seeing them in small group but I know with complete certainty that God will watch after them and that they’ll soar in their next chapter.  Goodbyes are hard but I’ll enjoy witnessing their story unfold from afar and cherish the times in the future however brief where we get to visit with one another!