Good Goodbyes

In the last couple months I've been surrounded with goodbyes, not in my life, but in the ones around me.  In my extended family, in my church, in the lives of my friends, it seems all I have to do is turn around and someone near to me is in pain and struggling with some kind of separation.  My heart aches for them because I know how messy a parting of ways can be.  It isn't easy, and sometimes it hurts really bad, but 99% of the time it's for the best.  Even a bitter parting is better than trying to hold onto someone that isn't good for you or who God doesn't want in your life (trust me I've seen AND felt it).  And sometimes it isn't forever......and sometimes it is.  That's when surrender and trust come in.  God's got it.  He is writing your life and He controls the characters who come in and often out of your story.  People come and go, but God stays the same.  He leaves no need unfilled, and that goes for friends, family, romance, and church family.  I know, I know, it doesn't really make it hurt less, but maybe it gives hope, hope that this present trial is for something higher, better, and more beautiful.
And to wrap up, I give you the words of the great theologian, Carrie Underwood....            

As bad as it was, as bad as it hurt
I thank God I didn't get what I thought that I deserved 
Sometimes life leads you down a different road
When you're holding on to someone that you gotta let go
Someday you'll see the reason why

there's good in goodbye