I remember the first time I had to say goodbye to a friend.
I was about six years old, and my good friend from the neighborhood was moving with her family to Texas. I was young, but I remember so much about that day…including the amount of rain that fell.
And we’re not talking from the sky.
She and her family left early that Saturday morning. I sobbed as I watched them drive away…and I never saw her again.
Over the years there have been other goodbyes. Friends have come and gone, hearts hurt, more tears have fallen…because that’s what happens with life and comings and goings.
Our time in Indonesia taught me much about saying goodbye…because it happened all the time. People…friends, students, teachers…were always in transition. And though I am generally an emotional person, I had to learn to control the amount of rain that fell.
I couldn’t let every single goodbye devastate me. And at a not-so-young age, I finally found some way to properly grasp saying goodbye.
One of the most valuable life lessons I took away from our time overseas was the concept of RAFTing. Reconciliation, Affirmation, Farewell, Think Destination. As we faced many goodbyes of friends who left us and then became the ones who were leaving, these concepts helped us end one chapter of our lives and look forward to the next.
Today I said goodbye to a friend.
When I woke up this morning and realized what day it was, I was briefly tempted to just text her a goodbye, apologizing that I never made it over. Then I caught myself.
We live less than five minutes away and Maelie and I had nothing on our schedule for the day.
So we had no excuses.
Added to that, the one thing that has stuck with me through all the goodbyes I’ve said is that friends need to know that they are valued and loved. They need to be affirmed. And, whenever possible, they need to hear it from us. In person.
So I texted her, we figured out a time, and Maelie and I stopped over.
We ended up staying for over an hour…just talking, catching up a bit, laughing, talking about the future…and crying.
It was good to let the rain fall for my friend, this woman who was part of a group who gave me community when it was my turn to be the new girl. We bonded over Iowa talks and park get-togethers and late, summer-night workouts. She always had a smile, was such an encourager, and I truly value her friendship…even though it will now be across hundreds of miles.
It rained today.
It rained tears of thanks and sadness and JOY all mingled with the hope that we have in our Father.
And though it rained, it wasn’t really a goodbye kind of rain. It was that I’ll see you…soon kind of rain. And I will.
Goodbye, my friend. I will miss you.
We rarely have days this bad and they are never consecutive, so I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a good day. ‘Cause I love her and on the days she’s oozing sunshine…well, there’s not much that’s better. 
