"I Need More Hello's"

Goodbyes are bittersweet.  

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. 

They say the longer the waiting, the sweeter the reunion.

I'd rather skip all that and just not say goodbye. 

It's the end of another school year and I am realizing how many of my friends are seniors. 

Most importantly, the realization that my sister has graduated and is not coming back to school next year is just beginning to sink into my mind.  She's been my best friend as long as I can remember and saying goodbye in August, when she leaves for 2 years, will be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

I don't have many more of my own words to add but here are some good quotes that I've enjoyed reading and some verses that I am holding onto:

"Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together?  I guess that wouldn't work.  Someone would leave.  Someone always leaves.  Then we would have to say good-bye.  I hate good-byes.  I know what I need.  I need more hellos."  ~Charles M. Schulz

**I know how Charles Schulz feels. More hellos would be good.  

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."  ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

**While 'lucky' is not the word I would use, I am very grateful that this goodbye is as hard as it is.

"Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will."  ~Author Unknown

**Amen. 

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love."

Lamentations 3:22-26 and 32

"And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

1 John 4:21

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord..."

Jeremiah 29:11-14a 

"Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you."

I Samuel 12:24

In the end, it all comes down to this: Fear God.

I serve a mighty God, greater than distance and time, whose knowledge surpasses all of mankind's, whose wisdom and strength are indescribable, whose grace is impossible to fathom.  I serve a God bigger than all my pain and problems.  His mercies are new every morning.  His faithfulness reaches to the skies.

On this truth I will stand, and with this knowledge, I will joyfully face each coming day, even the ones when I have to say goodbye. 

My beautiful sister and I.

A typical type of interaction.