Saying Goodbye

"We will miss you."

We heard this in various forms from various people over the last month or so. It was especially concentrated this last week as we participated in the last of our usual activities, my last run with Sandy, my last lunch with Retha, our last Gideon camp meeting and prayer meeting, our last church service and fellowship. Some of the expressions weren’t in words; instead they were in tearful hugs. We had many of those hugs the last few days.

Gary had the camera ready to capture some of those, but he missed them. He will have a few more chances this week as we say goodbye to our family.

I am thankful for these expressions from people. We all want to be remembered.

Not all of our partings were this way. They ranged from cheerful good wishes, through promises to visit, to the tearful ones. Stronger reactions came from people we had shared with more deeply in the time of our acquaintance. I know that the people I remember most in my life have been the ones who listened and cared about me, not the ones who impressed me with their greatness or accomplishments.

The hardest partings for me now are from the people who have shown they care about me.

The Lord has been working for years on my ability to share my heart with other people and to be more caring toward them. These tears from others at our parting show me that He has had some success in that area in my life. For that reason, I am thankful for all these tears.