Before you get out the tissues, I don’t intend to make this post all about sadness. So we’ll start out on a happy note here.
The first goodbye we experience in life is that of leaving the womb. I know, you’re thinking “but that’s a beginning.” And it is, but it also a goodbye. A child has spent 9 months in the womb. You have to imagine that they have been happy and comfortable there, having all their needs met 24/7. They didn’t have to cry, kick, scream or anything. They just had to grow and enjoy their time there. So leaving the womb is definitely a goodbye for them. And then it becomes a new beginning. The beginning of life as we know it. They are breathing real live oxygen on their own, they are hearing and seeing things for the first time. It’s an awesome and scary experience I’m sure.
The next goodbye we experience is going to school. We’re saying goodbye to all day play, taking naps, and having undivided attention from our moms. Now of course most of us didn’t perceive it that way, we were excited about our new adventure – albeit – a new beginning. I do believe this was harder on the moms than anyone else.
Fast forward to the teen years. Here is where we are first introduced to heartache of goodbye. I think everyone went through puppy love. Of course we are sure that this love will never end. But it does, and we are completely broken hearted and swear we’re never gonna fall in love again because we could not possibly love anyone that much, ever! Even so, this is also a beginning. It’s the beginning of growing up, and learning what love is all about.
Sometimes though, as adults, we forget how that was as a teenager. Some people fall in love easily, some don’t. But it’s as true for adults as it is for teens. Sometimes even worse. Because once you’ve given your heart to someone and they throw it away, or take advantage of it, you now feel betrayed, and like you’ve been made a fool of. You thought you’d grown out of making dumb mistakes (not that you really did) and you are devastated. These goodbyes are some of the hardest to get over.
One hard goodbye is the one when a father walks his daughter down the aisle. So many dad’s get choked up doing this. They are giving away their baby girl. They are sad that are no longer the most important man in her life. And to make it worse, the poor dad always has to have the first dance. But for both of them, this too is a new beginning.
Another hard goodbye is when we must let go of a loved one who has died. Even if the person has been sick a long time, the grieving begins, it hurts like hell, and it takes a while for the healing to come. Even though this is extremely hard to go through, it too is a new beginning. Our loved one is starting life with Jesus.
Speaking of Jesus, many, like the disciples, had to say goodbye to Jesus. They weren’t quite sure what was going to happen even though Jesus had told them. It was awful for them to watch him suffer and die on that cross. But it was also a new beginning, for Jesus and us. Because Jesus gave his life for us, we began a life where our sins have been forgiven. And the disciples came to realize that their new beginning was to carry on Jesus’ teachings of making disciples of the world.
There are many more examples of goodbyes that we could talk about here, but I think the point here is that while there are many goodbyes in our lives, there are also many beginnings. So the next time you’re experiencing a goodbye, go ahead, have yourself a pity party as I like to call them. But somewhere along the way, make sure to realize that it is also a beginning. For every door that closes, God opens another. 
Not sure that I'm really happy with how this turned out tonight, my thoughts seem to be very jumbled. But hope you find something useful here.
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