It seems like one thought has come to my mind over and over this summer...Everything Changes. NOTHING stays the same. And...NOTHING seems to turn out the way you expected it would. 
I guess it all started when I realized that my good friend, Tara, was close to the end of her life at just 35 years old and before she'd had the chance to raise her two beautiful kiddos. I remember thinking I never expected there would be a time when Tara would no longer be here on earth with the rest of us. Well, at least not until we were all starting to face our final days as old men and women who had reared their families and sent them on their way. This feeling about how everything changes persists now, many weeks after Tara's death and for varied reasons. Sitting in a hotel room with a good friend who has seen her world change from one where she was a stay at home, home schooling Mother to one where she's been kicked out of her husband's life and replaced by another woman. A world where she's struggling to keep her head above water. To pay the bills, spend time with her sons, and just SURVIVE. As she poured out her heart I couldn't help thinking how so many times things turn out so opposite from what you'd ever imagined. We never thought HE would do something like that. People are people, though. Feelings fade and hearts harden and you can be left heartbroken and alone. But, the lack of the constant and stable doesn't just pertain to tough situations. The always-changing aspect of this world of ours reaches also to the good. There are happy changes, too. Watching my daughter grow and try things she never has before. Just yesterday as we went out to play she 
spotted a small white butterfly flitting around and took off like a shot after it. She probably chased that butterfly for twenty minutes. Except for the times when she told Mommy to chase him because she was "going to take a rest". I thought of Mary in the Bible who pondered everything in her heart. It felt like that's what I was doing as I thought back to the days when I would have had to point out that butterfly to her. Or the days I would have had to carry her over to the grass only to have her recoil at the thought of her feet touching it. Boy, things have DEFINITELY changed there. And, come on, even that little butterfly wasn't always a butterfly! So, with the good and the bad constantly evolving, expanding, decreasing, or simply fading away...there can sometimes be a feeling of despair or at least lack of control that leaves me feeling kind of "flitty" like that butterfly - going here and there with seemingly no real direction or anchor. Guess it's a good thing I know Who to cling to, huh? 'Cause it sure seems like there aren't a lot of things in the world that stay the way they are. And, sometimes, even knowing Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and being thankful that He will never change...I would still like for the people I love to stay married, for my friends to be here, for my daughter to always want to cuddle with me in the mornings, and for my favorite restaurants to stay open. 
I guess it all started when I realized that my good friend, Tara, was close to the end of her life at just 35 years old and before she'd had the chance to raise her two beautiful kiddos. I remember thinking I never expected there would be a time when Tara would no longer be here on earth with the rest of us. Well, at least not until we were all starting to face our final days as old men and women who had reared their families and sent them on their way. This feeling about how everything changes persists now, many weeks after Tara's death and for varied reasons. Sitting in a hotel room with a good friend who has seen her world change from one where she was a stay at home, home schooling Mother to one where she's been kicked out of her husband's life and replaced by another woman. A world where she's struggling to keep her head above water. To pay the bills, spend time with her sons, and just SURVIVE. As she poured out her heart I couldn't help thinking how so many times things turn out so opposite from what you'd ever imagined. We never thought HE would do something like that. People are people, though. Feelings fade and hearts harden and you can be left heartbroken and alone. But, the lack of the constant and stable doesn't just pertain to tough situations. The always-changing aspect of this world of ours reaches also to the good. There are happy changes, too. Watching my daughter grow and try things she never has before. Just yesterday as we went out to play she 
spotted a small white butterfly flitting around and took off like a shot after it. She probably chased that butterfly for twenty minutes. Except for the times when she told Mommy to chase him because she was "going to take a rest". I thought of Mary in the Bible who pondered everything in her heart. It felt like that's what I was doing as I thought back to the days when I would have had to point out that butterfly to her. Or the days I would have had to carry her over to the grass only to have her recoil at the thought of her feet touching it. Boy, things have DEFINITELY changed there. And, come on, even that little butterfly wasn't always a butterfly! So, with the good and the bad constantly evolving, expanding, decreasing, or simply fading away...there can sometimes be a feeling of despair or at least lack of control that leaves me feeling kind of "flitty" like that butterfly - going here and there with seemingly no real direction or anchor. Guess it's a good thing I know Who to cling to, huh? 'Cause it sure seems like there aren't a lot of things in the world that stay the way they are. And, sometimes, even knowing Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and being thankful that He will never change...I would still like for the people I love to stay married, for my friends to be here, for my daughter to always want to cuddle with me in the mornings, and for my favorite restaurants to stay open. 
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