From goodbye to hello

Saying goodbye is part of life. Whether it's goodbye until tomorrow, goodbye for a few months, or goodbye forever, saying goodbye is usually not easy; especially when you are saying goodbye to someone that has had a great impact on your life. Over the last three years I have had to say goodbye to one of my favorite teachers, my youth minister, my family, my girlfriend, and now my ministers. While none of these goodbyes has been forever, some have felt like it.

At the end of my junior year, my favorite choir teacher left unexpectedly. In her class, I developed a passion for music that is still alive in me today. She moved about an hour away, but I have only seen her a handful of times in the last two years.

Last year, the youth minister at my church resigned. She was one of the first people that believed in my capability to become a minister. She didn't move away from town, but I have only seen her three times since she resigned.

When I left for college I said goodbye to my friends and family. Since I decided to go 700 miles away to school, I have only seen the people that have had the largest impact on my life twice since August.

Until January before my first semester of college I thought my girlfriend was coming with me to Fort Worth for college. When she decided that she couldn't live that far from her family I was shocked by her decision to stay in Missouri to go to college. I made a rash decision. I decided a clean break, a definite GOODBYE, would be better than a long, painful separation. Three days later I realized the rashness of my decision. We are together and stronger than ever, but I have only seen her a handful of times in the last seven months.

Finally, I got a call a few weeks ago from my minister, Ryan Steitz. He told me that he and his wife, Shanna, had resigned the night before. They had been offered jobs at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. He went on for a few minutes about the church, the school their kids would attend, and what the timeline was for their departure. But I didn't hear much of that. I kept playing that line over and over in my head, "Shanna and I turned in our Letters' of Resignation last night."

Ryan and Shanna have had a massive impact on my life. They also believed in my ability to become a minister. They informed me about TCU. They never pushed me to attend here, but they are very persuasive people. I love them both deeply, but saying goodbye to them, although very difficult, won't be anything compared to saying goodbye to their kids, Audie and Jacob.

I started babysitting for the Steitz family as a sophomore. I instantly fell in love with their kids. Their daughter is the cutest little girl I have ever seen. She has a smile that brightens my day every time I see it. Their son, although a little hyper, is extremely intelligent for his age. I always have to be on my toes and think about what I say around him, because he loves to contradict everything. They are both very special kids. After a few years of watching them every so often I started to think of them as "My Kids." I often think that if I love these kids so much and they aren't even mine, how much will I love my own children?

Saying goodbye is part of life. It can be very sad, but I try to see the positive in everything. I try to see goodbye as an opportunity for the people that have impacted my life to go out and impact other peoples' lives. If God can use these people so powerfully in my life, I know that He can use them to have a positive effect on many others. Although saying goodbye is never easy, it can be a little easier when you know that God is leading you down a path where saying goodbye is often followed by "Hello!"