Saying Goodbye

Last night, the moment finally came. The time that we all knew had been coming for the past six weeks. The emotions over the past month and a half had bottled up, and it finally came time to release those emotions, and let go. Time to accept that my family was leaving, time to say goodbye. You'd think that after having to say goodbye to my home, family and friends over and over again the past three years I'd be used to it by now, but it's always just as hard. This time, being the hardest of all.

We went out to dinner as a family. Along with my grandparents, aunt and uncle Tim, and Auntie Dawn. Morgan sat next to me, and Christian on my lap. We were talking a lot through out the meal, and I asked Christian if he realized that after dinner, he would have to say goodbye to me; that I wouldn't see him in the morning before he left to go back to Mexico. He started crying, and gave me a big hug. That resulted in a few others at the table tearing up as well. It took a lot of strength for me to not allow myself to start crying too.

After dinner we went back to the Bakers house, and said our goodbyes there. Christian definitely has had the hardest time out of everyone. These past two weeks or so, he has wanted to spend every waking moment with me. My mom said that when we're not together, he's constantly asking when he would get to see me again. When he would ask and she would say soon he would jump up and down and yell "YIPPEE!!!" and couldn't wait to spend time with me. After we would spend some time together and it was time for him to go back to the house in Jefferson, he would cry. He would hug me tight and refuse to let go. It broke my heart every time, and the sadness that my little brother held because he knew he wouldn't get to see me that much more was so hard to see. It showed me how much he loves me though, and that meant the world to me.

Change is a hard thing. Starting a new phase in your life is hard. This has been a difficult thing to experience and accept for all of us, and saying goodbye is always the hardest part.

Last night after I said goodbye, I spent some time in my favorite book, The Bible, before going to sleep. No other book in the whole world could comfort me more. No other words could comfort me more than HIS words. I read Romans 5, which focuses on peace, joy and hope.

Here are a few verses from the chapter that really comforted me.

"We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:2b-5

Dad, Mom, Brent, Dane, Morgan, and Christian- I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! I miss you already, but I know that God will ALWAYS give us hope, peace, and joy. Thank you for the amazing, one of a kind, best family I could ever ask for.