I was looking at a picture of a fallen cottonwood tree against a starry night sky. And the photographer had written below that he often returned to that spot to witness the tree’s changes. He noticed, “when a fractured limb decayed, then sprouted new growth right before my eyes, it was a powerful reminder that there are times we have to let part of ourselves go to make way for something new.” Sometimes letting go of something or someone, feels like we lose part of who we are, part of our identity.

Last week at a house church here in Thailand the theme was ‘Goodbyes’ (which means, ‘God be with you’). Several of the missionary kids are graduating high school this week and must leave their families and go to a different country (to the states) for college. It was a tearful time as they said goodbye to ‘home’, the culture they’d formed here, and their families and to move to an entirely different life where things worked differently. They will go on to undoubtedly experience some real struggles, beyond the usual homesickness and search for identity students go through. I thought of the sacrifice they were making, and their families were making. But if they remained, their growth would stagnate and they would miss out on an education. It was time for them to leave the nest and go to a place far far from home.

Some of the youth, who were leaving shared, “The fruit needs to fall from the tree or it will rot. It will not complete it’s purpose.” The pastor was completely honest. He said, I’m going to admit things will change and it will hurt a lot (talking to those who were both leaving and those who were staying behind) but God is your refuge in that pain. If we let go for a little while, we’ll be able to see for eternity the fruit of the seed that has fallen.

Maybe we can’t always go with each other, but you can be sure that wherever you go, or whatever struggle or change in life you go through, God will be with you.