The Hardest Part

"[Paul said] Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again." Acts 20:25

The Hardest Part

I do enjoy moving. Besides the packing part(which I spoke of before), moving itself really isn't that bad. It allows you to see more of the country, to taste exotic food, and, best of all, to know a variety of people.

In my life I have lived in nine different states for a month or more. A couple of them I don't remember(my father was in the military and we moved...A LOT!). A couple I only lived in a few months. But all of them have led me to a greater understanding of the marvelous country that we live in. It's a marvel how people as different as Montanans are from Californians can agree on anything, let alone government and living together.

The hardest part of moving, though, hasn't been the packing or the different cultures. The hardest part has been leaving the people I have grown to love behind. In each and every place I have met the most amazing people! And its hard to say goodbye.

Thankfully we have things like the internet which keeps us connected despite our distances. We never have to say what Paul said to his friends, the Ephesians. "Now I know that I will see none of you again." It's so sad! So heartwrenching! I cannot imaging leaving someone forever without even the hope of seeing them again. Without even the promise of Facebook updates and emails and postcards. With nothing to hold on to...

Except Christ! For Paul to live was Christ, to die was gain. For Paul, who was in Christ, leaving those who were also in Christ wasn't a loss. It was sad, alright. Paul ends each of his letters wishing he could see them again and greeting, by name, the saints that he had met there. But for Paul, whose life was taken by Christ and used to expand His Kingdom, the goodbyes he said was only temporary ones. For someday Paul would see them as Christ returned to take them home.

So as I leave I take on the same mind as Paul. For though I will miss those I leave, I know that the goodbyes we say are only temporary ones. We will meet again, whether on this life or in the life to come. We are together in Christ. Now...and always. Amen.

Almighty God, in Christ we are united with Christians throughout the world. Even in our goodbyes assure us of your grace that we might know for sure that we will meet again, in Christ our Lord. Amen.