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I’ve been saying a lot of goodbyes lately. And if I haven’t been saying goodbye, then I’ve been thinking about all the things that I wish I had said and didn’t. Whenever I leave my house to go anywhere, I have learned that I have to be prepared to go back for that ‘one more thing’ that I hadn’t remembered yet. Something about the imminence of pulling out of the driveway (What? I hadn’t realized earlier that I was leaving?!) jogs my memory for the thing that I neglected to bring the first time I left. I am so used to this driveway memory jog, that I have built it into the process of leaving, especially if it’s for a long trip!
In the spirit of that, here is a precursor to my list of things that I want to say to those who I’m saying goodbye to…those who are moving out of state, those who are passing milestones in their journey to adulthood and even some who have left this earthly home. I’ll think of the rest of the ‘one more things’ as I’m pulling out of the driveway and get them to you later!
First and foremost, I want you to know that you are loved. So deeply loved. By me, but also by our Heavenly Father.
“...the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” John 16:27. “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for his friends.” - John 15:13
He loves you in such a way that He took the time to especially make you! You should know that you are the only one of you that ever lived. Yes, I know that you’ve heard a million times that you were special, but truly…think about it for a minute. There are 8.1 billion people in the world, which is hard to fathom! Think of a penny, a small copper-covered coin with Abraham Lincoln’s silhouette on it. One billion of those humble Lincoln cents stacked together in a solid structure is the size of 8 school buses! Think about 64 school bus-sized stacks of pennies and imagine yourself one of those tiny coins, who is completely different from all the rest! In 64 school bus-sized stacks of pennies, you are unique! Even more mind boggling…that’s just calculating the people who are alive right now!
“For you created my inmost being…My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place…” -Psalms 139:13a, 15a
Not only has God made you unique, He has uniquely positioned you for a purpose; it is important for you to know that your being here makes a difference. The world would not be the place it is now if you hadn’t been born. Your physical presence in a room changes the energy and has an effect (positive or negative) on the people in the room with you. The impact that you have on your family and those around you, whether it be on your parents, children, spouse, cousins, grandchildren, friends, classmates, coworkers, teammates…no one else can make the same contribution to their lives that you can. Sure, maybe there’s another person that could have completed those blueprints or cooked an amazing Thanksgiving turkey or cleaned the bathrooms at the stadium or swished the 3-pointer from the baseline at the buzzer or changed the sheets or started the company that supports families or made that beautiful piece of art. But that person would still not have done it exactly as you did and the results would be different. Your impact… no, your legacy ….will live on in the lives of those around you, rippling out to people and places never seen by you.
“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:18-20
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” – Philippians 2:13
You are loved beyond comprehension. You are the only you in a world of over 8 billion people. Your being here makes a difference in ways that you may never fully understand on this side of heaven.
For my penny illustration, I visited the MegaPenny project site.
Image by Jose Antonio Alba from Pixabay
ABOUT OUR BLOGGER
Sarah Flowers lives in idyllic Chadds Ford, where she is steeped in beauty and connection to the land and its history. She loves coffee and flowers and getting to know Jesus. A lifelong learner, she seeks to follow God’s plan to bring justice to the under-resourced. Sarah is a self-declared serial optimist and melodiphile; there’s always a path to the sunny side and a soundtrack for the journey! She is a mom and wife and a grateful alumna of Northwood University. Her former iterations include automotive professional and shoe diva. Sarah serves on the Deacon Team at Willowdale Chapel and is dipping her toe into podcasting!