Goodbye is Hard

Well it’s the second time we have said goodbye but the second time was not any easier!  Infact, maybe it was more difficultly! 

One day our kids are little and the struggle as a new mom is hard. They come into this world, and we are not granted an owners manual walking us month by month through the years. 

We survive! [YES, new moms, you too will survive!] But the journey is labor-some!  We labor night and day for 17-18 years wondering if we are doing anything right. 

Then one day, all of a sudden, we realize they are grown and ready to fly the coop. They launch; we hold our breath!

In one emotion, and through a set of tears, we feel like we have lost a part of us forever; in the very next, we wonder if the Lord would duplicate just one good thing from our lives, for his own glory, through this beautiful person he has created and allowed us to be a part of raising!  The emotions are real!

And it is in this moment that we realize the days were so long, repeat, so long! But the years were so short. 

As I sit here in a plane (yes, during the covid pandemic with my mask over my face and breathing labored!) I too am reminiscing of the long days and the short years. It was just yesterday they begged us to tuck them in one more time or hold their hand to meet someone new. 

But today, our oldest took me into the airport, said goodbye and I just held her a little longer and a little tighter. Knowing each time was more special than the last. 

Sure, we packed two cars in early August and sure, we drove her 16 hours from home and literally dropped her off at school. Thanks to the pandemic, the school could not allow parents to move the kids in so we pulled up and a team of older students unpacked the car in 0.2 seconds flat (the same car I spent weeks prepping to pack and a whole night packing and repacking!). 

Anyhow, this afternoon after taking her back for the spring semester, I went though security and turned one last time to catch her watching to see me through as I have done for her many times. I turned and gave her the hand signals for:

I

Love

You

And she replied in similar fashion with two fingers placed high in the air as I had done to her so many times before. 

Now, after a blessed glass of wine, (more expensive than I care to admit!), I sit here on the tarmac, about to launch into the clouds and I cannot help but remember...

The days are long; the years are short!

Best of wishes this semester, Kelci!  Spread your wings and fly; Lord keep her in your hands, direct her every move. Allow her to be pliable to your will and your way; guide her every step, and prepare her for your journey! Amen