Good goodbyes

Patricia A. Harris

I Have a good friend named Jake. We've been friends for a long time—even since before Jake's brother Christopher was born. Jake and I liked to read and do stuff together. Once we pretended that we were air traffic controllers in Jake's basement. Jake was the boss, and I was his helper. We successfully landed a lot of planes.

You can see why I was sad when Jake and Christopher and their mom and dad moved three thousand miles away. Jake and Christopher flew to their new home with their grandmother while their mom and dad drove a moving van across the country. It was hard not to feel lonely as we said "goodbye." But we've talked on the phone many times since then. Once I even got to visit them when I traveled to their state.

Maybe a friend of yours or you yourself have had to move to a new place. Saying "goodbye" isn't sad, though, when you remember that God is with you. He is with your friend to whom you've said "goodbye." He's also with the new people you meet. The Bible says God is Love (see I John 4:8). And it's the truth! He is loving and caring for all of us, all the time. He is omnipresent. That means He is always present—always right with us. He is never absent or far away. The Bible tells us He is "a God at hand" (see Jer. 23:23, 24).

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