Goodbyes

I said two tough goodbyes this week.

First, I said goodbye to my very-dear friend who is moving to Florida to start her residency in pediatrics.  I am thoroughly convinced that God brought her into my life at the time when I needed a friend the most.  Her medical knowledge and understanding have been a huge bonus to the prayers and support that I received from her as I struggled through my third loss, grew through my time of waiting, cherished the experience of my pregnancy (she was two weeks behind us), and then learned what it takes to be a good mom in these first couple of months with Ella.  And now that I'm starting to get the hang of things, God is taking her away from me--at least geographically.  I asked her what I was going to do without her, and she assured me that she would now have a pager.  This might sound horrible--but I was surprised that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to say goodbye to her.  Aside from my mom, she is the person that I share just about everything with.  And yet, I only got misty-eyed when I actually said goodbye (I had a good cry over the weekend as I wrote her a goodbye note, and I guess I'm tearing up now as I write this).  But the actual hug and wave weren't so bad--I think it's because I know that God has big things in store for them in Florida.  Since they are traveling with an almost-eight-month old, they are taking it nice and slow, so please continue to pray for them on their travels and as they look forward to this new adventure.

The second goodbye was to my husband this morning as he heads out for the rest of the month in Korea.  He'll be gone for 24 days--which is longer than his usual trips, but shorter than his trip to Djibouti in Fall 2009.  Again--it wasn't so bad saying goodbye to him.  Don't get me wrong--I love him dearly and I'll definitely miss him, but I have Ella at home with me now, and she makes a world of difference.  In the past, the house was always so quiet when he was gone.  Now I have a babbling, laughing, and screeching companion.  In the past, I could let the house get as messy as I wanted when he was gone.  Now I have a curious almost-crawler who is getting into everything.  In the past, I could eat whatever I wanted, watch whatever I wanted, and pretty much do whatever I wanted when he was gone.  Now I have a routine and responsibilities...and one less set of hands with which to get them all done.  But my dad is coming out for a few days, and I know that he will be a huge help (not to mention that I would imagine that Ella will adore playing with him).  I will definitely look forward to seeing my husband at the end of the month, but I know that we'll be okay without him.

As I say these goodbyes, I'm blessed to have Ella filling my life with so much joy.  I know that God has given me a sense of peace, and she definitely helps fill the void of missing my friend and my husband.