The State of Leaving

"Breaking up is hard to do", says good old song. We are not breaking up, just moving, internationally. We have been living a time of changes, saying goodbyes, packing, unpacking, looking through our stuff and choosing which we want and which to be thrown away. It isn't easy, and we already hope that this period of time will be over.

Yes, it will be over. Every day is closer to the final move, and the transition is always only transition.

Leaving a place is all about inventory, whether be it material or mental garage of life. The moments of joy and sorrow, familiar buildings and surroundings, precious friends, wonderful family (also church family!), everyday meals, nominal routines... Let them be, let them be. Life will continue without us, everything will move on.

We won't, the life of now stays in our minds as a still picture, which we will treasure and zoom in to look at whenever missing home. We will enter another sphere, new rhythm and melody, our life will join the millions of other people in the busy metropolis of China.

What do we take with us? The still picture of current life, the pain of transition, and the excitement of new life.
What do we leave behind us? The possibilities we did not live out, the Finnish childhood Viivi will not have, the events in friends' and family's lives we will miss, and the steady life that would have continued.

Regrets? Life does not give opportunity to regret. There is no if, there is no but. Life goes on, the state of leaving is part of it, and we live through it.

During these times, the words of Paul comforts me:
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Paul's Letter to Philippians 1:20-21)

Let it be a transition that exalts Christ, let it be a change that glorifies Jesus. To live is Christ, He does not change.

Living by faith includes leaving by faith. No matter where we are, we long for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefor God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

In that heavenly country, we will rejoice forever. No need to transit, no need to leave.

Ja "hyvästi" -sanaa ei tunnetakaan. ("Viimeiset veneet", Lasse Heikkilä)