A time to embrace

I just marked two new dates on my calendar.
The day Ivan is set to arrive in VA and day we leave the USA together.  Each date carries with it vey different emotions.  The first one I anticipate excitedly, knowing that this time when Ivan and I are reunited it is the end of long-distance for us.  It's a big "hello" that we've waited for, prayed for, and now it's happening.  The second date on my calendar marks our departure.  I also await this day with excitement and anticipation, knowing that I am stepping out into something new and that it's time to go but it's mixed with a very hard good-bye.  The kind of good-bye that when you try to say it, a lump forms in your throat and you can no longer form a single syllable.  It's not easy to say good-bye even when you know there's a big "hello" awaiting you later.  So, now that it's on my calendar in big bold letters, I think, it's real.  This is really happening.  It's no longer just an idea in your head, it's on paper.  It's on the calendar!  Ivan is coming, you're getting married, and you're moving to Ecuador.  I'm suddenly feeling a lot more pressure to prepare for those good-byes.  Despite going through my things back when I moved out of my apartment last June, I know that my guidelines need to get stricter when deciding what to store, pack, or toss.  My mom has allotted me one closet for storage (and I have claimed floor space under one bed) and everything else must find a new home.  I'm easing into my good-byes, starting with simple ones, Good-bye old sweater that I don't need.  Good-bye old papers from high school.  Good-bye broken sunglasses (why was I even saving those?).  I'm feeling good, I've been productive, even took a bag of old papers to the big trashcan.  I take time to read letters from my students from last year.  I picture their faces.  I smile at their drawings and my heart smiles at their words.  "Ms. Hahn I like discovering spring with you."  "Señorita Hahn eres como una flor del campo"  "Thank you for teaching me Spanish."  Ok, the good-byes are getting harder and it's still just pieces of paper!  I whittle the letters down from 40 to 4.  It would be really easy to become consumed with the good-byes and lose sight of what I'm saying "hello" to.  The good-byes matter and I'm going to face them, each one, as they come.  I might even get a few lumps in my throat in the process.  But I'm also going to hold on to the "hello".  Hello to a new home.  Hello to marriage.  Hello to the ministry of Young Life Ecuador.  Hello to what God is calling me to. 

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...A time to embrace and another to part....a time to hold on and another to let go." Ecclesiastes 3