i smile ...

i woke up to this status from my dear friend bria, who is now serving as a long-term missionary in ukraine:

feeling very melancholy & sentimental today. i miss nashville.
... i woke up from a dream this morning that was “old days nashville” ... circa 2008-ish. some of the best days ever. made my heart hurt. <3


later in the day, a friend who is having a hard time embracing the new and letting go of the old sent this text:

don’t cry because it’s over. smile because it happened. (dr. seuss)

then, tonight, i went to hear some friends sing and speak at a coffee shop, and one of them used the same exact quote when she shared.

i sense a theme.

and a particularly interesting one given that this will be a weekend full of walks down memory lane with friends from those ‘glory days’. i guess God wants me to have some good perspective going in.

the truth is, i have had an overabundance of reasons to smile ... which can make it that much harder to not cry when it comes time to let go, for whatever reason. it’s so difficult to move out of one season into another, trying to hold onto the joy while managing the inevitable sorrow. sometimes it’s hard to trust that there will be just as many reasons to smile in the new one. and that just because there are new reasons doesn’t mean that the old ones have any less value.

i think about how the disciples must have felt when Jesus tried to explain that He was going away.

“don’t let your hearts be troubled. trust in God, and trust also in me. there is more than enough room in my Father’s home. if this were not so, would i have told you that i am going to prepare a place for you? when everything is ready, i will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where i am. and you know the way to where i am going.” (john 14:1-4)

just like there will be enough room for everyone in God’s house, there is more than enough room for everyone in our lives and all the moments we get to share. people come and people go, but no one can steal the joy they bring to our lives. and while it can be painful to let go, we can rest in knowing that the next thing will be greater and is making us more into who we were meant to be, thus bringing glory to the Father.

“i tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works i have done, and even greater works, because i am going to be with the Father. you can ask for anything in my name, and i will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. (john 14:12-13)

so, this weekend, i will treasure all the smiles shared as we reflect on all that has happened, while looking forward with expectation at all the smiles to come.