Bittersweet Goodbye

I was trying so hard not to cry. I kept telling myself not to but as I sat there watching the movie I couldn't help myself. The tears finally came and they just kept coming and coming! Tonight was Mike's (my youth minister from my home church) last night at our church before he and his family move to Austrailia indefinitely. (Going back in time about an hour). The youth and college classes were combined tonight because it was Mike's last class and Mike put me in charge of helping with the slides during the class. All I had to do was click the little arrow when it was time for the next verse of the song we were singing. This should be easy right? Well, I kind of had a hard time with it. I kept missing my cue and throwing off the praise team and the fifty other people in the room. Not only that, during one of the songs I started to close my eyes (b/c I do that sometimes when I sing) but realized just in time,"I can't do that, I have to see the slides because I have to change them." I am in Pharmacy school but I can't work a slide show.... good grief. Anyway, at the end of class Mike played The Video. It was a video of pictures from the youth group and him with some music playing in the background. It wasn't the pictures that got me because I'm not in the youth group anymore. It was the music. The lyrics of the first song played said something like, "I hope that you love Jesus more when we go our seperate ways." The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I did love Jesus more because of Mike and what a huge part he played in my spiritual growth. Not only has he helped me, but my brother and sister as well. He is the one who baptized Matt! (see picture above and the entry from July 05) Mike took an active role in helping me develop spiritually and I know I would not be the same person without his influence. The second song on the video was a song by Mark Schultz called "Remember Me" that I love and listen to often. That song started playing and I started crying. Then I kept crying. I tried to pull myself together before I had to go say goodbye to the rest of the family (Rebecca and the boys). This took me a good twenty minutes and then I made my way to the building where everyone was gathered to say their goodbyes. Through tears I said goodbye to Rebecca and managed to find the three boys and give them all a hug (I don't think they liked that very much.) Then I had to get out of there fast. As much as I hated to say goodbye to them, I know what awesome things God has planned for them to help Him out with in Austrailia, so it was bittersweet. Something I took away from tonight; I do hope that I help people love Jesus more. I have never thought of it that way, but I do hope that people are better off for having known me. Not because I am so great and wonderful, but because of what God does in me. That's all that matters in life isn't it? Isn't that our purpose? To show God to others so that they might know Him also? To help each other and encourage each other? I am thankful for Mike and for the other people in my life (many who read this blog) who have taken an initiative to help me in my spiritual walk. Without them I know that I would not be the same.