Please forgive my absence from blogging! This summer has been a whirlwind traveling to four different countries, visiting family all along the west coast and spending time with my lovely church family! I was only home for a few short weeks, but I think I have successfully packed in as much as I could have.
But with every great trip home there comes an end, and with endings we must say goodbye. And oh how I have grown to loath the word "goodbye". I feel like no matter where I am going and whatever I am doing I am always having to say goodbye to someone, and for someone who opens her heart fully it can be painful.
As this summer came to an end I began thinking about the daunting task of saying goodbye to friends, family, pets, even places and then thinking about the goodbyes I'll have to say in the future and I found myself overwhelmed and in tears. Every time I find myself fighting the goodbyes my lovely mother reminds me that "just think that one day we will never have to say goodbye again". As sweet as she may be when she says this trying to comfort me, it never seems to bring any comfort. All I think is, "but I have to say goodbye NOW!" But on my plane ride back to the Phils I read the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo and it challenged me to think more deeply on what Heaven will really be like. It's a story about this young boy's experience, where he actually dies and has gone to heaven and then came back. This story may or may not be real, but it definitely got me thinking about the beauty of our eternal life with Christ. He loved me so much that He created a place where I can see both my birth family and Philippines family in the same place! I also long for the day when I will be able to be in one place with all my loved ones from both past and present.
But with every great trip home there comes an end, and with endings we must say goodbye. And oh how I have grown to loath the word "goodbye". I feel like no matter where I am going and whatever I am doing I am always having to say goodbye to someone, and for someone who opens her heart fully it can be painful.
As this summer came to an end I began thinking about the daunting task of saying goodbye to friends, family, pets, even places and then thinking about the goodbyes I'll have to say in the future and I found myself overwhelmed and in tears. Every time I find myself fighting the goodbyes my lovely mother reminds me that "just think that one day we will never have to say goodbye again". As sweet as she may be when she says this trying to comfort me, it never seems to bring any comfort. All I think is, "but I have to say goodbye NOW!" But on my plane ride back to the Phils I read the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo and it challenged me to think more deeply on what Heaven will really be like. It's a story about this young boy's experience, where he actually dies and has gone to heaven and then came back. This story may or may not be real, but it definitely got me thinking about the beauty of our eternal life with Christ. He loved me so much that He created a place where I can see both my birth family and Philippines family in the same place! I also long for the day when I will be able to be in one place with all my loved ones from both past and present.
