Any Hamilton lovers in the house?

I’ve caught myself singing “One Last Time” to myself several times throughout this week. There’s something so sad and sweet about it and what a better theme song for my last week in San Francisco?

A good portion of my week was spent packing, but I did manage to squeeze in a few fun moments.

Thursday night was my last night spent with my small group. I was encouraged, spurred on, challenged, and blessed by this group and can only hope I was even a little in return.

Attending a Chinese-dominant church might have intimidated some, and to be honest I was unsure about what I’d be walking into, but am I glad I didn’t let my comfort zone restrict me. I got to worship God with people of a different background, culture, and worldview, and got a taste of Heaven in the process. How beautiful a picture it is, that in the presence of God, such things matter little when all our hearts cry out in desire to know and be known by Jesus.

Friday was my last day of work at Kaiser. The group took me out to a local Japanese restaurant for my first bowl of Udon (like Ramen, but really thick noodles).

P.S. It was yummy.

So grateful to have been surrounded by such a fun, inclusive group of people! I think it’s fair to say that we had a blast working with each other and enjoyed the time we had together.

The song from Hamilton goes on, one of the repeated lines being “teach ’em how to say goodbye”.

I’m well-practiced in goodbyes (one might even say I’m good at them). I moved several times growing up, have gone away to college, have worked at different places, and now, am in a career that has goodbyes built in to it. In all of the goodbyes I’ve given and been given, I’ve had quite the variety: tearful, thoughtful, elaborate, simple, large, intimate, personal, etc. All of them are dear to me because all of them showed me just how much I’d be missed and how blessed I’ve been in any particular season.

However, my own goodbyes don’t start on my last day, but on my first. As I connect and grow closer to people wherever I go with this job, there’s always that awareness in the back of my mind that my days with these people are literally numbered.

Mind you, this isn’t a depressing thought. It’s a sobering, realistic, even joyful thought!

Think about it: I get the blessing of knowing how long I am going to be able to give of myself to the people I’m surrounded by! I get to feel the weight of every interaction, every conversation, every moment spent with them! Pardon my morbidity, but it’s almost like my time has been given a 13 week prognosis. When it’s up, it’s up. When I’m gone, I’m gone.

So, I do my very best to make each day, each week, count as a goodbye. A “wishing you well”. A “praying for you”. A “I can never thank you enough for all you’ve done”.

I believe I’ve done pretty well so far.