02 May Beware: Life Changes Ahead
Recently, I have had two different circumstances that made me realize that changes in life really are inevitable. And there are times that things happen that we wish we could stop or at the very least slow way down.
Our family has lived in the same house for 27 years. In the front yard of our house is a gorgeous cherry blossom tree that has been there since we first moved in. Every year around Easter, that tree blossoms to it’s fullest with the most lovely and magnificent blooms you will ever see.
Several weeks ago, my husband called me out into the front yard and said, “look up.” And there I saw it…our beautiful cherry blossom tree was completely dead at the top. As I looked further, I noticed the bark of the tree was also beginning to pull away from the tree. My heart sunk. This was the tree that was the signature piece of our front yard and provided shade for our front porch. It was the tree that ushered in the Easter season and the tree that my kids would swing on when they were small. It was the tree that provided the backdrop for many of our family pictures. I didn’t expect it to effect me the way it did but I found myself heartbroken to witness something that was such a huge part of our family begin to fade away..
Fast forward to a few weeks later. Back in the 1960’s, my grandparents bought a small piece of property in Emerald Isle, NC. Over time, that property was passed on to my Dad. Later on, he sold that particular place and then purchased a house in the same area in the early 90’s. I have been going to that beach since 1965. My childhood, teenage years, college years, young adult life, married life, and the raising of my kids have been at that beach and in that house. It’s part of me. It’s nothing fancy or extravagant but it was special to me. In fact, I loved that house. Due to my dad getting older and not wanting the responsibility of taking care of a beach house (which I certainly understand), he decided to sell the house and as of last Friday, it now has new owners. Again, I didn’t expect it to effect me in the way it did and even though I understood the why of it all, my heart still hurt because it is another thing gone that has been such a huge part of my life.
It’s not as if I have never had to deal with change. I certainly have. But in these two cases, it was years of investment and joy that both of these things have brought to me and my family that I have had to let go. But here is what I have learned. Time goes on. Life moves forward. More changes, good and bad, are inevitably coming. Lastly, change can also be a good thing because it beings new adventures and experiences which provide new and lasting memories.
So…onward we go. We plant a brand new tree in our front yard because one day, those grand-babies of ours will need to swing on those branches as our kids did while growing up. And….we find a new and fun place to go for family vacations. In the end, it’s all good. Socrates once said, “The secret to change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but building the new.” So that is what I will do. I will the keep the good memories of the old tucked away inside my heart and embrace the new and fun things ahead that God has in store.
Lastly…
Ecclesiastes 3:1-9
A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
Melody