Since we have moved and for that matter any move we have undertaken, I have the same feeling of dread about one thing....meeting new people. It sounds odd, I know, but I honestly find it difficult to meet and get to know, build new relationships with other people. The older I get, the more difficult it seems to be. I cannot claim to have any childhood best friends, and I have only kept in touch with a handful of friends from college. Life happens, we move away, families begin and grow, the responsibilities and activities of our lives make it challenging to keep those relationships going. I have over the years been so thankful for those I have managed to stay in touch with. Though there are many miles between us, sometimes the brightest part of my day is receiving an email from one of my dear friends. I have already made some very sweet friends in the few weeks we have been in Brazil, Indiana. Although my humanity cries out for seclusion at times and just doesn't feel like making the effort, God reminds me of the sweet fellowship I have found in those I am blessed to call my friends. I am quite certain if I didn't have a relationship with Christ, my life would not be as full and abundant as it is.
Joy and Light
Early Tuesday morning January 2, 2024, I got a call that my Mom was slipping away and the family should come. We knew she was not doing well these past couple of weeks as she had developed pneumonia and covid, and she was struggling just to manage breathing. When I arrived, the nurse brought me in to Mom's bedside, and quietly stepped out to give me some time alone with her before my Dad and my brother arrived. I cried like I have never cried before in my life, and went to my knees beside her, resting my hand on her arm. I have no words to describe what it felt like in that moment, the finality and the reality of it. My brain understood she was gone, no longer there. But my heart, regardless of how far gone Mom had been for years now..... my heart was suddenly flooded with the feelings, the sounds, the memories of her across my entire life, rushing through my head in that moment all at once. It felt like time kind of stopped, s...
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