SAYING GOODBYE IS PAINFUL!!

It seems as though we spend a lifetime saying goodbye to people we love……and it never seems to get any easier.

We have babies and spend the first few years of their lives being totally absorbed with them - and we are their world, meeting all their needs.  Even though this sometimes seems overwhelming, those years seem to pass too quickly.  Soon, it’s time for them to head off to school, and we find ourselves watching them walk away to a whole new world opening up to them.  The day I took my daughter to kindergarten and watched the class form a line and march away, the teacher handed Kleenex to the crying parents.  I knew I was not the only grieving mother.  When we drop them off at school, the thing that makes it easier for them and for us is the reminder that at the end of the day we will pick them up and we will all be together again.

Through their growing up years, there may be various camps and trips that will take them away for a few days or a week at a time.  Again, the sad goodbyes will be made a little easier by the thought of the happy day when the trip will end and we will all be together once again.

Then one day comes high school graduation and beginning of college life - sometimes meaning those little ones we have raised are now grown up and moving away.  I can still remember taking mine to college, getting them all settled into their new home - a dorm room - a few hours away from home… and then driving away.  The empty feeling and painful goodbyes are something we’ll never forget - ending of one phase of life and the beginning of another one for them.  These goodbyes, though, are also made a little easier by the thought that Christmas vacation and break times will mean we’ll be seeing them again soon.

Weddings are happy times! The day our children get married is often a day of greatly mixed emotions.  Although we are extremely happy for them and share their excitement in beginning a life and family of their own, this also is another goodbye - goodbye to the family structure we have known. We soon realize that there is now a empty spot in our house and in our heart - and it is painful! This too is made easier because we know we will still be seeing them and experiencing the joy of welcoming a new family member and seeing our family grow.

One day our children - who are really no longer children - may find it necessary to move away to other states or even other countries. More painful goodbyes go along with these moves.   The thoughts of future visits with them make these moves a little more bearable.  The times spent together, however, never seem to be quite long enough, and as I drive away or they return home, I am always brought to tears as I say goodbye one more time.  With each goodbye, I always find myself assuring them and myself that we’ll see each other again soon - and hopefully have a plan in mind for when that will happen. 

Have you ever sat by the bedside of a sick and aging loved one and had to face the fact that their time in this world is short?  I have watched both my Mother and Dad take their last breath and pass away, and it has been some of the most painful things I have ever encountered.   As I said goodbye to them - a final farewell in this life - my mind was flooded with precious memories of days and years gone by with these dear parents and all they taught me and how much they loved me, and I didn‘t want them to leave me. My heart was filled with pain, and I was left with a void that can’t be filled with anything or anyone else.  

In both of these cases, however, the thing that made this deep pain bearable for me was the realization that this too was only a temporary goodbye.  At different times and places in our lives, God reached out to my Mom and Dad and to me and showed us our sinful condition and our need for a Savior.  When we called out to God and asked for His forgiveness, we received that gift of eternal life that Jesus Christ died to provide for us.  

Because of God’s grace and what Jesus Christ did for us, as I tearfully said goodbye to my Mom and Dad, I had the assurance that this too was only a temporary goodbye and that we will meet again.  What a comfort that has been to me to know that when my life on this earth is over, I will not only see my parents and the other loved ones who had a relationship with Jesus Christ when they left this world - but most importantly I will see and be with the one who made it all possible, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!*

Did I say how much I hate saying goodbye?  It’s so true.  Even when they are necessary, goodbyes are always painful for me.  However, I am ever so thankful for the assurance that “we will meet again!"  What a joyful reunion that will be - and there will be no more goodbyes!!


*John 14:1-3 - "Let not your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  And I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also."