Yesterday, following a meeting downtown, I decided to make the short trek across campus to the East Carolina student center to check our organization’s mailbox. As I walked, regretting every minute that I was wearing long pants and sleeves in almost 90 degree weather, something caught my eye. Students with bags slung over their shoulders cramming a ridiculous amount of stuff into cars, their faces fixed with a look of relief that the semester had ended but dread at the thought of leaving the place they’d called home for the past 10 months.

I’ve talked to freshmen in recent weeks who almost all say: “it went by so fast!” I’ve talked to seniors who can’t wait for it to be over as they quickly approach graduation (ok, they’re really hiding some dread of leaving themselves, even if they don’t admit it!)

As I see all of this my mind is drawn back to a similar time in my life. My 2004 Dodge Stratus crammed full, keys to my one room home turned in, I too embarked on a journey away from Campbell University at the end of every year. It’s bittersweet as you take a break from school work but, at the same time, leave behind the place you call home and the people that fill it.

As sad as these summer beginnings can be, the reality is that eventually, for every student, it all comes to an end. As a college minister, this is one of my least favorite but most exciting parts of what I do. Students who I’ve built relationships with for years, cross a stage and walk out of our lives (though some of them reappear for visits!) but do so as they cross into the next season of life that they’ve prepared for so long.

The end of semesters and the educational experience are a lot like the journey of life. One day we’re sitting in the cafeteria surround by friends we think we could never live without and the next we find ourselves having not seen them in years. A college or university where we once knew every dark corner, becomes foreign to us with each new visit as buildings change and people come and go.

While this seems like a sad realization to come to, it’s actually not that terrible. As I reflect on my time at Campbell, I remember fondly friendships I made, late night Walmart runs, professors who became friends, and eating whatever I wanted without worry about the consequences (seriously, it catches up…).

But, even as I think of these good moments, I think of the ones that have followed, people I’ve met, jobs I’ve taken, places I’ve been. As I look back I have to admit that all the great things that have happened could not have come if I’d stayed in Buies Creek. One chapter of my life had to come to an end for the next one to begin.

The writer of Ecclesiastes is quick to remind readers that there is a “time for everything” and the writer of James says that we are “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Looking back I can see this to be true in my life. However, while I see truth in both of these statements, I don’t think that they have to carry the negative connotation that one might hastily read in them.

There are seasons of life and the one you’re in now will eventually pass. While this sounds terrible for some of us, I’ve learned in my short 27 years of life, that what comes out of the end of one season can be the bright and beautiful beginning of another.

So, as you cram your car with the memories, good and bad, of a closing season, do so with the knowledge that great things are still yet to come. Relish in the relationships and moments of today- don’t waste time ignoring the world around you- but always be looking forward and knowing that something new is always on the horizon.

Do so, with the knowledge that  God promises to stand behind us and with us, but also has promised to go before us, all the while, preparing us for the beautiful season that is to come.