Saying good-bye is still hard for me...

Saying good-bye to those I love is still hard for me - and now it is time to say good-bye to one of my mates in music making. Eva - of strong voice, deep feelings and abiding faith - is leaving town a week from today. Her loved one has a GREAT new job offer in his field with a chance for growth and creativity. Our local economy is still tepid so... this is a no-brainer. And it is still hard.

Eva just came on board last year: she and Dianne blend musically in uncanny ways. What's more, Eva plays piano and has a KILLER instinct for country/Appalachian harmonies. So we've had a grand time making music together.

Last summer she just jumped into the fray and sang a close country harmony with Di during our "I'll Fly Away" sessions - and I knew she was a keeper. Even then there was always the chance that things would change after graduation - she just completed a medical technology degree - but we all hoped for at least one more year of internship or something. She has brought some sweet and beautiful music our way and enriched all of our lives with her presence, laughter, tears and faith.

But longevity was just not meant to be;I've experienced this over and over in ministry - some thing my friends in the military know well, too - that when your time is done, you have to move on often whether you agree with it or not. How does the old song put it: when the Lord gets ready... you gotta move! I've done it over 25 years of ministry and I've experienced it, too. But it never gets easier with those I love. (Soon I will write about our new recruit - never a replacement, ok? - a new recruit who brings a wealth of new gifts to the band. She, too, is a blessing but that reflection is for another day.)

This picture was taken about a week or so ago while I was thinking prayerfully about just this moment - would it come and what would I feel when Eva said she was leaving - and now it is here. So we'll skip band practice tomorrow night and share a meal and hoist a few pints to celebrate Eva's new opportunities. We'll shed some tears, too, because that's how these things work. Saying good-bye is still hard for me...