Saying Goodbye…  

I couldn’t begin to tell your story… so I hope  you will find your story in the music.

Jacquelyn is the soloist on this song…. Oh I love her voice and the emotion behind it. When I wrote this song, she was saying goodbye to a special relationship and getting ready to go on a church mission. I could feel the ache.

She knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it easier. Sometimes we need to say goodbye … trusting that whatever the Lord has in store will be enough… and still wonderful. Those goodbyes are so hard, yet so right.

In my life, the goodbyes that were incredibly poignant were my parents’ divorce when I was 10 years old and losing them both later in my life. A beautiful growth of faith was coming to know that we can find rays of light in our loss.

Countless precious memories are made throughout the course of life…  and when things don’t end perfectly, or how we had planned, we can hold onto the good and keep those memories close to our heart… giving space for divine healing to take place and new memories to be made.

I grieve a little each time one of my children leave the home. When our oldest left, I couldn’t place my finger on why I was so sad, when I was so happy for what she was doing. But when I finally recognized it as grief, I knew it needed to be… and that was ok.

The experience of  watching my little grandson say goodbye to his dad, who has to leave and couldn’t come home for a long time – but so desperately wanted to be with him, was heartbreaking for all of us.

Sometimes I didn’t know how he (and we) would ever overcome the sadness… but we did, leaning into hope for the future, and we all made it through.

Some goodbyes are to sweet phases of life. Time marches on and people and circumstances change, and those goodbyes can be some of the hardest. But there is always that promise of tomorrow and brighter days as we carry those special times in our hearts and look to the future with faith.

 I pray that your goodbyes will be lined with promises of tomorrow.

 “You’re never leaving, you’ll never go away. Just like my breathing, you are here to stay. And I’ll keep dreaming, time can just stand still. You may be leaving this place, but my heart you never will.”

(*Picture – Jacky at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland – breathtaking)