Hello Again

Hello Hatters,

I was glad to hear that my City sponsored an event to dispose of old paints and other items that should not go into the regular trash.  It was an opportunity to get into Country Hubby’s shed and safely remove old containers of oils, solvents, etc.  Over the years, he had three boats and many power tools.  It seemed like each one of these devices needed a separate kind of oil and additive.  All of those things plus lots of old paint was loaded into my wheel barrel and moved into my garage to wait for the drop off day.  Most of these items were just Greek to this city chick. I was so glad to say goodbye to this stuff on the disposal day.

I’ve been thinking about other goodbyes I’ve had in my life.  Actually, I would say that I’ve done a lot more than think about them.  I made a list.  It was a list that took a couple of days to compile.  Most of my goodbyes related to people or places resulted from my many moves, or other people moving on.  Of course, the hardest goodbyes are the ones said to those who have passed out of this world.  It was a pretty depressing assignment that I put on myself.  It was hard to processed all of these goodbyes.  So, the Pollyanna in me decided to make a list of hellos.

If you think about it, there’s not a goodbye unless you’ve first said hello.  So every goodbye ended up on my hello list.  My hello list was longer than my goodbye list.  Maybe quantity isn’t as important as quality, but a long list of hellos seemed to provide encouragement to me.

You might ask why I would do such an activity.  It’s a result of Bible study that I’m doing on Sunday nights with my friends.  The writer in me took a MAJOR detour as a result of the book study called Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lysa Terkheurst.

There’s a squirrel somewhere in my thoughts because now I realize that hellos and goodbyes should be evaluated in other important areas of my life, such as in my attitudes and behaviors. Yes, I went THERE!  Ugh.

I have much to consider.  My curious spirit longs to learn even if it’s hard.  There’s a thirst in my faith walk, as well.  I want to understand the Bible more.  Can I be kinder and gentler than yesterday?  Do I draw close to the Lord moment by moment? I’m eager to gather lovely words in my heart, so that I can encourage others.  I know that I will fall down and get up in this effort, but it’s in the pursuit of living out my faith that makes life worth living.

I’m sure there are more goodbyes in the days to come, but like the case of old hazardous junk in the shed, it was welcomed.  On the other hand, the hardest goodbye I’ve ever said was to my Country Hubby.   Some days I can reframe that goodbye as gratitude for that one very important hello with him.

Anyway, it’s not goodbye, but someday, “Hello Again!”

MT Penny