We had a wonderful time yesterday with our kids and the Bannisters. The food was great, the games fun, but just being together was the best part of all. It made it hard to say “goodbye.”
Holidays are wonderful, because they give us an excuse to get together and enjoy each other’s company. Unfortunately, there’s one part I never look forward to – saying goodbye!
Goodbyes are never easy and life seems to be full of them. We say goodbye to parents when we head off for school, to our children as they build lives of their own, and to our friends when they move away.
The hardest goodbyes are the permanent ones. When a loved one dies, our hearts break, because we’re afraid we’ll never see them again. But we can find comfort in Jesus’ words in John 11:25 where He declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die…”
Of all the reasons we have for thanksgiving at this time of the year, this is probably the greatest.
There is a day just over the horizon when goodbyes will be a thing of the past, a day when “sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Isaiah 51:11
On that day, “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
No more death, no more parting or pain! No more sad farewells, no more leaving others behind! Just an eternity to spend with the ones I love and the One who loves us. No more goodbyes – now that’s something I can look forward to!
God bless and Happy Holidays!