Zie jian (chinese)! Selamat (indonesian)! Aloha (hawaiian)! Auf Wiedersehen (german)! Hej då (swedish)! Hyvästi (finnish)! Adieu (french)! Adios (spanish)! Leitraot (hebrew)! Arrividerci (italian)! 안녕 - Ahn-young (korean)! Salaam (arabic)! Sayanora (japanese)! Adeus (portuguese)! Paalam (filipino)! Namaste (hindi)! Ha det bra (norwegian)! Yiá sas/sou (greek)! La revedere (romanian)! Totsiens (afrikaans)! Kwaheri (swahili)! Hwyl fawr (welsh)! Bless á meðan (icelandic)!
Just a few different ways to say goodbye...
As I said goodbye to my aunts and cousins in Korea, I found it difficult to hold back the tears. Normally, I would optimistically say my farewells to friends/coworkers/family/etc, which meant smiles sans tears, but it wasn't the case this time around. As I get older, am I becoming more sensitive? Perhaps. But it may have to do more with the fact that my relatives in the mother country have yet to want to know Him who is altogether compassionate, merciful, and gracious.
On the drive to the airport, it was hard to maintain a cheery attitude. Throughout the months, I've never felt so much love and received so much kindness from unbelievers. Granted, they are family but still. It's a cold world out here... families dying from want of love or even a little tenderness. And how do I return the overwhelming love I received from them? When one receives love, one wants to return it tenfold. But how do you return such love to unbelievers? I may never see them again. What if my relatives don't make it to heaven? I wish I could have stayed for at least a year with them. Fighting the tears and jumble of neverending thoughts/questions/concerns, I told my aunt and cousin that it was my desire for them to know the true God and thereby see them in heaven if not on earth. But she didn't think she would "make" it.
The promises found in Psalm 103 are assuring - "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy... He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him... As a father pities his children,, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." With these promises from God, any sinner can come to Him, any sinner can be reached by Him. The question is, will he/she accept His hand of mercy?
The book Steps to Christ contains a chapter "The privilege of prayer" which I've found to be such a blessing to reread over and over and over again in any situation. "Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs on your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. 'The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.' James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for HIm to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. 'He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.' Psalm 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as dIstinct and fUll as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son [pg. 100].
Ellen, comforting words indeed, eh? In witnessing to unbelievers, I need to remember to "Let go, and let God"... to let HIm lead them. After all, He knows them more intimately than me (God knows the number of our hair strands!). So Ellen, Let go and let God! Talking in third person helps me feel motivated... as though I have a cheering crowd of supporters:)
Interestingly, goodbye comes from the Old English "God þē mid sīe" which means "God be with you". So when I say GOODBYE, it essentially means - May GOD be with you until we meet again!!! Got it? Goooood:)
Comments (2)
Wow! Goodbye is a loaded word.
I am sure the fact that you were so moved saying goodbye to your family will remain with them...
I was reading Malachi this morning. How great is God that He doesn't match our punishment with our sin. Worries of "making it" can pale in comparison to God's goodness which has already overcome the world!!
Blessings, Ellen. I'm cheering for you, too.
Eager to talk now that you'll be back on the stateside.
@peanutluey - Thanks Kendra unnie! Can't wait to talk to you too! When are you free?