Transitions & Saying Goodbye

So I started cleaning my office yesterday. It started out innocently enough. I thought I would take down a couple picture frames. Then my diplomas got wrapped up and put in the box. Then I might as well take down my daughter’s drawing. Ten minutes later I looked up and two of my walls were almost empty.

I felt a couple tears rise to the surface. Then my mom called and I quickly wiped them away, thankful for the distraction from feelings I preferred not to deal with at the moment.

Today, I’m now looking at an office with half empty boxes strewn about, a bookcase with stacks of resources and treasured gifts in a pile on the chair. Two of the walls hold the images I’ve looked at every day for the past several years. The other walls are uncomfortably empty, reminding me that change is coming.

My heart is in the same place. The people and mission of Saint John United Methodist Church fill up my heart to overflowing. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to say goodbye to this place and these people. I know the day will come and it will be wonderful and difficult.

And each day, a little bit more of my heart opens up to the people of Marysville United Methodist Church. I get a little note from a future staff colleague, a pastor who serves nearby, or an update on our new home and the prayers and dreams start to flow for this new place.

What transitions are going on in your life? Maybe kids are entering a new phase, you’re about to get married or you’re saying goodbye to a beloved person. Maybe you’re letting go of a dream or ability.

How we say goodbye to the thing in front of us determines how we’ll say hello to the next adventure.

As much as I’d love to avoid the pain of saying goodbye to people who’ve changed my life, I trust the death & resurrection process too much. I know good things come from pain. God is with us.

Thanks also to Glennon at Momastery for this reminder. Good stuff.

Pain is not a sign that you’ve taken a wrong turn or that you’re doing life wrong. It’s not a signal that you need a different life or partner or body or home or personality. Pain is not a hot potato to pass on to the next person or generation. Pain is not a mistake to fix. Pain is just a sign that a lesson is coming. Discomfort is purposeful: it is there to teach you what you need to know so you can become who you were meant to be. Pain is just a traveling professor. When pain knocks on the door—wise ones breathe deep and say: “Come in. Sit down with me. And don’t leave until you’ve taught me what I need to know.” – Read the whole article here.