Hello and Goodbye

Last night our Praise Team said goodbye to one of our members who is moving to another state.  We fellowshipped about our life experiences, our funny moments, raising children, etc. and it was a relaxing moment.  I realize that life is filled with hellos and goodbyes.  We meet new, and hopefully interesting, people all the time and then there are those who come into our lives and they move on.  I guess the question we must ask ourselves is how we are impacting the lives of others and what can we learn from those we encounter as well.  I remember as a young adult Christian it was important to me that before I went to a new job that I made it a point to impact someone’s life for Christ. I used to say, “Lord, if you just give me at least one soul!” He honored that request, there was always at least one person with whom I was able to share the Gospel with.  I must admit that I have fallen short of continuing in that mindset.

I learned a long time ago that some people are meant to be in your life for a reason and a season.  There are those that you will have long, fruitful relationships with through many years, and then there are those that you will have only for a season.  However, even with that said, with the influx of social media we have today we can keep in contact with others more often than we were able in the past.  Just yesterday I reconnected with someone I went to middle school with and her words to me were encouraging and dear to my heart. She said, “I thought about you every now and then. You were a friend to me at a time when I needed it the most.” WOW is what I thought…that I didn’t even know that I had that kind of impact on someone way back in middle school! We may never know how many people we have impacted throughout our life, but to come in contact with so many people, so many of God’s creations and NOT have any impact on them, would be a shame.

My prayer for you today is that the love of God that resides within you would permeate your being and touch the lives of each person you come in contact with. There will be many hellos and goodbyes…but pray that God is glorified through it all!