Psalm 84:5-6 Happy are those who are strong in the Lord who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping it will become a place of refreshing springs where pools of blessing collect after the rains. The big news this week for the Meyer's . . . we're moving! You probably guessed that based on the picture above though, didn't you? I'll be honest, this is a move I wasn't expecting. Not at all. In fact, a few months ago, if you had asked me how long we might live in our current home, I would have chuckled at the question. "Not until the kids graduate from high school," would have been my automatic response. Just the thought of packing up and leaving our big, beautiful home was too much to consider. After all, this place is filled with lots of amazing memories. From tea parties, to birthday celebrations, to just hanging out and being silly, there are so many wonderful memories stored up in my heart. This house is the place where my kids grew up. It's the place where they lost teeth and celebrated holidays and, in general, just had lots of fun. The front garden is where I planted some of my mother's iris bulbs and for three summers watched them thrive and bloom. If this house could talk it would tell story after story about how much my family has loved and grown, lost and gained, and changed while we've called this place home. In fact, earlier in the week, as I was walking down the sidewalk, I noticed that the "Coming Soon" sign had been placed in our yard. For just a few moments, my heart sank. Someone else would be living in our house now--a house filled with my memories . Many years ago before my mom passed away she was still living in my childhood home. Once while visiting her, I recall thinking how much I loved the house I grew up in. It was a place that was familiar and comfortable. Walking into it felt like, well, coming home. In those days, I figured the visits to my childhood home would never end. At least, it seemed that way. But when Mom passed away in December 2011, and we sold the house to a different family, I knew something precious in my life was gone for good. Now a new family would be making their own special memories in that place. That day, I realized just how precious life is and how a moment, no matter how significant it is, won't last forever. Life is always changing, and brief and precious are the times we live in. Today, my thoughts are bittersweet. I am saddened about leaving this amazing life behind. But I'm confident in a God who loves us fiercely and only has plans to prosper and defend us. He is that one thing in life that never changes. He is not something that can be replaced, or left behind, or altered. God is the eternal constant. No matter how many times in your life you have to play the "coming-soon," game, or the what's-around-the-next-corner game remember that everything in life changes and that's okay. But with all the shifting in life, God is constant. Constant in his love for us, in his plans for us, in his mercy and in his peace. Cling to that promise and find rest and comfort even during those "coming-soon" changes in your own world.
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