*This post is part of this week's Loving and Leaving Well Series, where we're talking about lessons learned from leaving the places and people you love. Missed a part? Catch up here!
You must say goodbye to not only the little space you laid your head at night, the grocery store you always bought your milk and bread from, but also things like the roads you became so familiar with, you could drive them in your sleep (though you never actually would). But of all the things you have to learn to let go of, the hardest are the friends you’ve made along the way.
With each move I’ve made, that being 4 major moves and a few more minor moves, I would like to think I have gotten better with practice at saying goodbye to those I love. But, it just isn’t the case. I had to discover that sometimes, friendships are just for seasons. This was one of the most difficult, yet relieving lessons I’ve had to learn. It is completely okay too. Certain people are placed in our lives as well as we in theirs’ to lean on and to grow with for shorter amounts of time than others. Before I learned that this was a natural thing, I would stress myself out over trying to keep up with every single friend I made from every single place I lived. I only had so much love to go around, especially at the depth that I wanted to love each friend.
There is a danger in not fully embracing the new and letting go of the past. You will never experience the fullness of what God has for you in a new place, a new season of life, if you do not walk forward with your palms up and open. Usually, if you live life with an open heart and open mind, God will replace what has been taken and give you something new, something that may grow to be even more incredible than what you had before. If you choose to live by recreating the past, you’ll never be satisfied, because each person is unique, each place is unique and you can not remake what is someone’s or some place’s to give.
However, some friends are meant for the long haul. I have a few of these which I am incredibly thankful for, though I imagine it would make for an interesting girls vacay seeing as they don’t all know each other, only just what they hear from me. Maybe for my 30th birthday! One friend in particular is my best friend Janneka who I met while we both lived in Australia. She is from Canada, and I am, well you know, from here in the USA. Janneka and I grew in friendship for the months that we both lived right next door to each other, but soon it was time for her to leave. She spread her wings and started college in Vancouver, Canada. I eventually moved back to the USA and we kept in close contact. Over the years, we have only seen each other once since our lives back in Australia, but through skype and letters, we’ve grown to be the best kind of friends. She is like family; constant and forever. We have been each other’s support through relationships, moves, exams, and much more.
Learning to let go and love the new is hard but incredibly worth it. I would have never known Janneka to the depth I do now had I not first lifted my head up to the sky, raised my hands in surrender and opened myself up to embrace the newness God had planned for me. I’m so glad I did.
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