Goodbye, Dos Vedonya, Auf Wiedersehen

Marc and Sarah Beth right before we took her to the airport to go back to the States.

My sweet friend, Tina, as we were saying goodbye. After their time in the States, they will return overseas, but to a different country.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

There are few things in life I think I'm actually an expert on--I am something of an expert on English grammar, on the metaphysical poets (especially John Donne), and on salsa-making, which I've turned into an art, frankly. (Really. Seriously. It's super good.) But those are things I've spent considerable time on, things I've learned about because I had to, frankly--I was an English teacher for many years, I taught John Donne every year I taught (until I was done with Donne--you knew I had to do it, right?), and I could not find a jar of salsa that looked and tasted like actual salsa to save my life in Moscow, so I learned to make my own. But none of these can compare to my expertise at saying goodbye.

When we came overseas the first time, in October, 2007, I thought my goodbyes were done. After all, I'd said goodbye to everyone, everything, and every place I'd ever known, sold everything I'd ever owned, and trekked off across the world to follow God on a grand adventure. I'd stood at the airport while John John clung to my Daddy's leg, refusing to say goodbye. (John John thought Mimi and Poppy were coming with us to Russia. He was not pleased with the news that they were not.) I'd hugged my sisters one last time, weeping in the parking lot. Those had to be the end of the goodbyes, right? WRONG. One hundred percent wrong. Those were only the beginning of this life, a life marked by goodbyes. We've said goodbye to friends who have resigned and gone back to the States, who have not returned to the field because of budget cutbacks, friends who've died suddenly, friends who've relocated to another country or stayed behind when we relocated. Since coming to Vienna a year ago, we've said goodbye to one family who returned to the States to pursue a different ministry and two families who have relocated to other countries. And that doesn't count the goodbyes we've said to Sarah Beth, both last September when we left Florida and this July when she left Vienna. Goodbye is something we know. It's not something we like, but it's something we know. We have, much to our dismay, become experts on leaving and on watching others leave. It is simply a truth of this life.

So why mention this today? Because our beloved home church is saying goodbye to her pastor of 14 years, whose family is moving to Alabama to pastor another church. Fourteen years is a long time, and in those fourteen years, our little church on the hill became that huge church on the hill--a giant presence in our community, a place where people reach out to their community and to the whole world. And today, they must say goodbye to this man they love, to his beautiful wife and his sons, who they've watched grow up. Goodbye. It sounds so...final and dismaying. But take heart, dear friends at First Baptist Church of Middleburg, Florida. With my expertise at goodbyes, I can assure you that for the believer, it's never a final goodbye.

Sometimes, God is shocking. Okay, more than sometimes. Often, God is shocking. He's a God of surprises, of roads we could not have imagined, of unplanned adventures. And while we think that makes our lives pretty fun and exciting, we sometimes get stuck thinking everyone else's life stays the same. But the truth is, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, life is very interesting. If you're not your own, if you follow the God of Everything, then your life is not going to be sedentary. I'm sure there are many people who thought the pastor would stay forever, ending his career at the city on the hill. But the truth is that God had a different plan. And that's great for him and his family, but it's also great for the church. In the same way that when our children are mature enough to be sent out of our nests into the big world, we know it's time, our pastor knew that it was time for him and his family to minister elsewhere. He has followed God to bring the church this far. And now, God has something else for him, and someone else for the church. It's the way things are supposed to be. And while it's always sad to say goodbye, it's also a time of great thanksgiving. What a blessing to be part of God's enormous family, where goodbye isn't final, where until we meet again has real meaning to it. And what amazing things our God has done on that hill in tiny Middleburg, Florida, things no one could have imagined, things that cannot be of any other hand than His mighty hand. One of the pastor's favorite sayings is, "The best is yet to come." I know and have seen the workings of the God of the Universe, my friends. And I know for sure that the best--the very best--is, indeed, yet to come, both for the First Baptist Church of Middleburg and the pastor and his family.

So our goodbye is not goodbye. It's dos vedonya, auf wiedersehen--until we see each other again. What a blessing and a comfort for all who know Him to know that goodbye...well, it isn't really goodbye. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are as blessed with the fellowship of an incredible church as we are, and that you did not wait until today to finish your German homework for tomorrow, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye