By far, the hardest part of our trips to Florida is always the "goodbye"...such an oxymoron that the word good be juxtaposed with bye. In the two years we've been "away" it hasn't gotten any easier. It always starts with the feeling that I really just need one more day. Just one more day and I'll be ready. And I know it's really time to come home, I miss David and the kids are saturated with fatigue, just dripping with weeks of fun and excitement, to the point behavior has become a ticking time bomb. Like I said, I know it's time to come home; but then I get to thinking, just one more day. I can tell Lily feels the same way. One breath is I miss Daddy, I want to go home....the next is teary-eyed, I don't want to go yet. That's exactly how I feel. And one more day won't fix things, it will just delay the inevitable goodbyes. And my list of goodbyes is a long one: in-laws, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and my parents. Over and over, I do the keep it casual, see you soon, as if I'm just around the corner, or at least that's how I'll act, so I don't cry all over you...no-good bye.

In my quiet time this morning, my mind kept coming back to those goodbyes. My prescribed Bible reading in the biographical plan I'm working through was Pilate, leading up to the crucifixion. Such a familiar story, it could be easy to breeze through and move onto the daily chores. But this morning, I am thanking God that of all the things His Son's death provides me: forgiveness of sin, righteousness in Him, eternal life...I am most thankful this morning that one day, there will be no more goodbye. This life will continue to be full of goodbyes, separated by distance, and death. The weight of that alone would be more than I could handle, just too overwhelming to face. Praise be to God, through eternal life in Christ, we have much more than a life of goodbyes to look forward to.