This last week I stepped away from my active posting but not from my focus on gratitude. I enjoyed the pleasure of a very dear friend’s company last week. It was a gift indeed. There is always something bittersweet about a goodbye and Sunday seemed to be a day of goodbyes or farewells. For my friend the goodbye meant our fun time together was over for now and there are sweet memories to enjoy and our next time together to plan.

At our church there was a different farewell. A farewell that meant a change in the way things had been. And this kind of farewell comes with a sting for we honored a dynamic young couple who live a life of service and compassion and are heading to a new horizon. We have enjoyed the talents of our precious Katie as a youth and family minister. I am grateful for knowing this amazing young woman and the mark she left on us at ELC. The people of Colombia will be enriched.

When you endear yourself to others you give a piece of yourself and that is beautiful. And it can be this beauty that can help with the sting of a farewell. I am grateful for this. I enjoy this Irish blessing about goodbyes.

This image brings to mind the idea of departure, although I captured it while waiting on my husband in Paris.

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

Peace.