I don’t believe saying good bye was ever intended to be easy to do. Obviously the words are quite simple to say but that’s clearly not what I am talking about. I am talking about how it is so emotionally tough to get the words good bye out. Today I just said good bye to my sister and brother-in-law as they move back up north. And they both know that I am a very emotional person but I kept my cool as we had our little good bye moment and when they left I got teary. But for me with these types of situations it is never just a sad feeling. It is a mixture of joy and sadness. Sadness because I really hate saying good bye to people I love so much but also I cried tears of joy because I am just so blessed to have them in my life. Lots of people hate saying good bye because it is something that is inevitable in our lives, it is something that like it or not happens. We all get that feeling inside, that sick feeling when we have to say good bye to the people we care most about. But I have made peace with saying good bye because even though it is sad to see the ones you love leave, I have hope and faith that I will see them again soon. From reading this I want you all to come to peace with the dreadful experience of saying good bye, which it is completely normal to feel the way you do. To be sad, angry or even happy, these emotions are a normal response. A couple of years ago a friend of mine and a lot of other people I know passed away. His name was Joey Merling. And though I may not of known him extremely well, his life has made a very large impact in my life. Other than Joey, I have only had 3 people close to me die. But I was much too young to understand anything about death and why I should be sad. I was so blessed to have known Joey, when I think of men of faith I always think of David in the bible who always prayed such deep and honest prayers to God. But I also think of Joey. He was very sick and he knew his fate and yet through all of this pain and sorrow. Joey still praised God and for me that is such an amazing act of faith. I mention this story just because for me it was really hard to say good bye to Joey. I mostly knew of him for most of his life but then he went to the same high school as I did and got to know him a lot more, but I got to truly experience what kind of person Joey was when he was in the hospital. Joey was in the same hospital that my sister-in-law was in at the time when she was very sick. For most people when they are so close to death they may not want to talk to anyone, but not Joey. Joey heard that Jaime (my sister-in-law) was in the same hospital as him, he made his way down to her room to visit with her. I believe that story will always be one of my favorites. I know that these two experiences of good bye’s are a lot different but for me….there really not. Even though I know I will be able to see Lindsay and Shane again physically. I have faith that I will see Lindsay and Shane and also Joey again one day. I know I am not the judge of who gets in to Heaven and Hell but I have faith that God has restored Joey and brought him home. I tell you these stories to provide comfort and peace to having to say good bye. For some it may be easy but I know for me I believe it will always be one of the toughest things for me to ever do. May we come to accept the inevitability of saying good bye and that we come to know that however we feel is normal. Whether your situation is saying good bye to a loved one for the time being or saying good bye to someone who has died, may we know that God is with us and restoring us, that we will never be the same but that we will recover and in that may we find hope.
Grace and Peace
J. Jones
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment