These are my thoughts that I will be sharing with the GCH kids tomorrow morning during chapel, so I have't used this yet. I thought I would share it with you.
Well, today is december 3rd. There are no more days left.... And for that reason I am very very very sad. every single trip that I have made to India, I have cried when I left. Sometime I would cry when we would say our goodbyes, sometimes I would cry on the train or bus to Hyderabad, sometimes I would cry when I got back to America, and sometimes I cried during all three. The reason why I cried during the previous trips, was because I grew attached to all of you. In just the 7 days that I was in India you guys became my best friends. And it is very hard saying goodbye to your best friends, especially when you don’t know when or if you’ll see them again.
The thing that makes this goodbye so much harder than the others, is I feel like I’m saying goodbye to my family not my friends. I don’t want to go.
Another thing that makes this goodbye even harder is I don’t know when I’ll see you guys again. I start college next year and I don’t know if I will have any time to come back to India for the next 4 years. By then, a lot of you will be gone from GCH and I may never see some of you again. I hope this isn’t the case, and I hope that I can come back sooner than that, but I’m not sure if I will be able to.
I came across this verse the other day, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brother and sister-yes, even his own life- he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
Jesus is telling us that if we’re not able to put him in front of our family, brothers and sisters, than we are not fit to be his disciple. God has called me to go back to America to study so that he can prepare me for whatever he may have in store for me down the road. And if I’m going to follow him and be his disciple I have to say goodbye today, even though I don’t want to. When I leave today, you all lose 1 family member, I however lose 200 family members, some of which I may never see again.
God has given us a promise that I am going to hold onto very tightly today. This promise that he gives overcomes all the sadness and tears that we share today. The promise is that one day, every single one of us will be together in heaven worshiping our creator. We will speak the same language, and I will be able to memorize all of your names. On this day I will also be crying, only the tears I shed will be tears of joy, and possibly laughter.
With that promise from God, I leave you with this, I love all of you more than you could possibly understand, and I will see every single one of you again. Until then, happy journey.
~Caleb Mayes
