In High School, I participated in choir. At the end of each school year, the choir would perform several songs at graduation. One was the Senior Song that the Seniors of the group chose to sing. My graduating class of 2007 chose "For Good" from Wicked. We had 604 students in my graduating class. For the past 10 years, I've only seen or talked to a handful of them. That's part of life isn't it? We grow up, begin the next chapter of life and friendships and relationships change. 

 The last few years have been significant in the amount of people that have come and gone in my life. Some days I reflect and I'm grateful. Thankful to have known that person and grateful for the memories. I look at a photo on my shelf or scroll through a Facebook memory and I smile because I remember a moment or a funny story. Sometimes there is sadness because that person is no longer in my life. Sadness and disappointment because I long for them in my life once again. But that's part of life isn't it?

People come and go in our lives. We drive people away, although sometimes we don't mean to. People let us down and leave us. People are taken from our lives too soon or unfairly. The person or people we long for never seem to come in our lives when we need them or want them. But that's part of life isn't it?

The reality is, it is part of life, whether we like it or not. How we deal with that reality makes all the difference. I wish I could say I've figured it out, but I haven't. When people leave, it hurts. When what we long for doesn't come to fruition, it's painful. What I do know is that there is something we can learn from people that come into our lives. No matter how long they are there for, we can and should lean into the goodness that is born from that relationship. How has that person changed us? How have we changed that person? How has that relationship made us better? 

I've heard it said, that people come into our lives, for a reason. Bringing something that we must learn. And we are led to those, who help us most to grow. If we let them, and we help them in return. 

People come into our lives and it's intentional. I really believe that Christ places people in our lives for a reason. Even though it hurts sometimes, there is something we can learn from each and every relationship. 

It well may be that we will never meet again, in this lifetime. So let me say before we part. So much of me, is made from what I learned from you. You'll be with me, like a hand print on my heart. 

Sometimes we know it's coming. We will never meet that person again in this lifetime. Maybe it's the passing of someone. Maybe it's a relationship that has come to an end. Maybe it's a friendship that has been severed and it was beyond our control. Loss and disappointment hurt. But we don't have to live in that hurt. We can let the hand print that has been left on our heart sustain us and shape us into something new. 

Who can say if I've been changed for the better. But  because I knew you, I have been changed for good. 

This comes down to us and how we see life. Is the glass half full or half empty. Do we look up to what can lift us up or do we look down and dwell in our pain and suffering. 

One of the first children I had hoped to adopt taught me a lesson that I will never forget. We'll call him Asa. Asa was 6 years old. I had had him for almost a year. The parents were not an option and DHR told me that I was going to be able to adopt him. We begin to move towards the adoption process when a relative came out of the woodwork. The relative had never taken an interest before in Asa's life and most importantly, he did not want to go with this relative. He wanted me to be his dad. DHR said it was just a formality. They had to hear the relative out  and there was NO way that he would go with the relative. 

It was the night before we went to court. The next day, the judge would decide if Asa would go with the relative. I knew the inevitable was about to happen. I was about to lose Asa. I think he knew it too, although he didn't say it. He was holding onto hope. As he got ready for bed that night, he asked if we could listen to music. He was sad. We listened to my playlist of songs that I always listen to when I am sad. At one point he asked if we could listen to the song called "Thy Will". He had a habit of getting the names of songs wrong so I thought he was confused. Little did I know that night, the song Thy Will by Hillary Scott was a song and a moment that  changed my life forever. If you are sad, in pain, lost and without a hope or understanding of what's next, this song is for you. Look that song up and you'll know what I mean. 

I miss Asa but I'm thankful he was a part of my life. The hand print he left on my heart will never go away. That's what it's about isn't it? People will come and go, but if we can have those moments that change us and shape us, can't that be enough? It has to be. In a world where people fail us, where where we fail ourselves and others, we have to hold onto something. 

Because I knew you, I have been changed for good...