Goodbyes Aren't Forever

We were supposed to go sailing on the Charleston Harbor last week with our friends from our Community Group.  We've been meeting weekly with some combination of these friends since the Fall of 2007.  They are our family.  They've cried with us, rejoiced with us and laughed with us.  They've prayed for us through job uncertainty, pregnancy and life changes.  They've been Godly examples of wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and friends.  They are blessings in our lives.

Instead of sailing we got massive amount of rain.  So we did what any rained-out group of sailors would do.  We got take-out, ice cream and played Taboo.

It was the perfect night.

We laughed at funny jokes.  We teased each other at our failed attempts to describe the world.  We ate brownies and ice cream.  We made lasting memories.  And at the end of the night after everyone left, I cried.  I'm crying a lot these days and I can't really say I'm sorry about it because it is the only thing that makes me feel better.  I feel like I'm crying out all of the sadness about leaving, the scaredness of moving and the uncertainty of the future.  It just feels good in a horribly awful sort of way.

I am so thankful goodbye isn't forever.  I am so thankful for a loving savior who gives me hope for tomorrow.  For a Heavenly Father who promises we will be together with Him someday in paradise. 

I will most likely see my friends again on this earth.  But we don't know the plans the Lord has for us and so I can't count on it.  But I rejoice knowing that I leave these special friends in the hands of the one who gives us HOPE! 

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