It's "See you Later"

4 years ago, I called into the local radio station and requested a song.  My sister was leaving for college. I knew she'd only be gone a year before I followed in her footsteps and joined her at school, but it was still hard to watch things change. Today, I play the same song, knowing that this time, I won't be following her lead. 

It's a good thing, this leaving.  She's heading off to do what she's dreamed of doing for years.  She's excited to go, excited to learn, and I'm excited to see what God does in her life. But that doesn't make tomorrow morning any easier.  

Saying goodbye at the airport, knowing that although she's certainly not leaving my life, that things aren't going to be the same...it's a hard change that I am learning to deal with.  Being sisters means that we'll always be connected, but sending her off to a foreign country is very different than sending her across the state.

Today I play this song, knowing that it can't really be answered, but relying on the peace of God to bring me through, and the confidence in Him as my helper to sustain us.

How to Say Goodbye

Tell me when the time we had slipped away

Tomorrow turned to yesterday

And I don't know how

Tell me what can stop this river of tears

It's been building up for years

For this moment now

Here I stand

Arms open wide

I've held ya close

Kept ya safe

Till you could fly

Tell me where the road ahead is gonna bend

And how to harness up the wind

And how to say goodbye

Tell me why

Why does following your dreams

Take you far away from me

And I knew that it would

Tell me how to fill the space you left behind

And how to laugh instead of cry

And how to say goodbye

Here I stand

Arms open wide

I've held ya close

Kept ya safe

Till you could fly

Tell me where the road ahead is gonna bend

And how to harness up the wind

And how to say goodbye.

As a dear friend recently told me, "I'm not saying goodbye.  It's 'see you later'."  And it is. But some days, even "see you later's" can be hard.

Me and my Grove City Grad 

["So we say confidently, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.'" Heb. 13:6]