Leaving Well

“For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” - 2 Corinthians 2:15 HCSB

On the eve of the last day of Camp Hope while I was in Zambia, one of our team members shared this verse in his devotional. We all had so many stories of what God had been doing in each of our kids’ lives, and we were all sad about how fast the week had gone by and that we’d be saying goodbye to our children the next day.

He talked about what he called leaving well. The idea is that we don’t leave a burden on the people behind, but that we’re a blessing to them as we go and even after we’ve gone. That the fragrance of Christ would linger long after we had left the mission field, and it would continue to work in their lives.

That final day, I tried to pour out all of myself into my kids to let them know that I loved them so much, but that God loved them even more. I wanted them to remember the love and kindness that our team had shown, and know that they could find that same acceptance in Christ Jesus, no matter their circumstances. And now that I’m back in the States, I’m still trying to learn and apply what it means to leave well as I prepare to leave for college.

I’ve grown up in the same town for the past 18 years, and so leaving is difficult. This week has been, and will continue to be, a lot of “last times.” Today was the last time I’ll worship at my church as a member. Today was my last time in youth group. Yesterday was my last time interacting with the youth leadership team. Wednesday will be the last time I see my friends for a long time. And as I think about all of the people who have prayed for, encouraged, or poured into me, I want to leave well for them.

I have been so blessed to be raised in such a loving community. And these past two years, God blessed me even more by allowing me to meet about 20 high school students who have absolutely changed my life. They love Christ with all that they do, and we are such a tight-knit group of friends that uplift and pray for each other. We have a group chat, and it’s always filled with invitations, prayer requests, and jokes to make us smile. And I have to say goodbye to that.

When I think about leaving well, I realize that it’s not about writing letters or giving gifts, or even hugs and goodbyes. It’s not even about how well they remember me or how I’ve impacted them.

Leaving well, to me, means that when I’m gone, they’ll look at my life and desire to become more like Christ. Just like the verse in 2 Corinthians says, we are to smell like Christ while we’re around, and when we leave, that fragrant smell should remain behind. Not our own smell, but the aroma of Christ. So when I leave, what I want the most is that everyone I’ve seen or met would remember my life and desire to become more like Jesus.

Goodbyes are tough, but they don’t need to be sad. Of course, those who know Christ as their Lord and Savior will see each other again, if not here, then in heaven! But goodbyes are also a sweet time for reminiscing. And after leaving, if we have left well, we can trust that we have left the memory of Jesus Christ behind, and that is the best thing we could hope to do. Even in our absence, we can help others to #LiveItLikeJesus.