Todd and I enjoyed a wonderful evening with great friends last night. Friends that unfortunately will be moving in a short period of time. They will be greatly missed.
As the conversation took turns and twists and we talked about a myriad of topics; children, home improvements and things of spiritual significance, one of the hardest things to discuss was the fact that they are leaving.
Change is usually difficult but the change of moving a family from a familiar city to one of uncertainty is certainly a challenge.
God told Abram to go to a place that He would show him, talk about uncertainty. Abram didn’t even know where he was going. I bet that was an interesting conversation between Abram and Sarai, “God told you WHAT?”
Then Moses moves the Israelites out of Egypt and into a land of the unknown, wow. Remember where all the grumbling got them?
Looking back over my own life and the moves that we have made have brought both heartache and joy. When I was young we moved a lot and now I see how those moves strengthened me and my sister.
As adults, Todd and I moved to Ohio, leaving our families in Colorado to go where we believed God was telling us to go. Ours was a migratory journey into a land as Egypt was to the Israelites. For us it was seven years that, although were painful, were the greatest teaching years we could have had.
Our move to the south was less distressing but not in the area of leaving behind friends who we cared for dearly.
It is hardest to leave individuals. Houses can be replaced, jobs and even churches can be exchanged from what you had, but people are difficult and, in many ways, impossible to recoup. Every friendship is like a connecting point in a spider web. Each life touching another connecting the whole thing together creating a strong, beautiful piece of unique artwork. We are bound together, knowing that no matter how far the miles are between us we are connected. United by joy, sorrow, pain and triumph.
I know that as my friends embark on their journey a part of me goes with them, woven into the web of their lives, contributing to them the strengths that we can impart.
Never look at a move as a loss but an opportunity to grow, to learn, to follow God’s call to the next great thing He has for you!
We love you, dear friends and know we will be together again--Heck, you’re gonna have to put up with me for all eternity!
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