Waiting For A Time That Will Never Come

When James and I moved from Ruston, Louisiana to Summit, Mississippi our friends and family asked if I was going to continue blogging. "Of course", I said, and I did- prattling on about remodeling, gardening, and such. But I quit writing when an unexpected, difficult event occurred throwing our family for a loop. A sadness settled over my heart.

Then came Harvey and we all watched as thousands of families were forced to deal with the loss of their homes and uncertain futures. James' cousin, Tracy, and her husband had just bought an old Texas ranch house to remodel and I was looking forward to comparing 'remodeling notes' with her, but the week before her house was finished, Harvey flooded it. I can not imagine how defeated they must have felt. My dear friend, Kathy's daughter in Houston suffered the same fate and Kathy expressed how helpless parents feel when their children are going through difficult times.

On the heels of Harvey, came the news that my Ruston Sunday School teacher's husband had been diagnosed with melanoma and the prognosis was not good. He has since passed and although God has and will carry Carolyn through this time with His righteous right hand, I know her grief is profound.

We received news that a good friend from high school had unexpectedly lost her husband. Their wedding anniversary followed his funeral by just a couple of weeks and she posted a picture of them taken on their wedding day. I can not even imagine her sadness.

Then Irma...

So I have been too sad to write; too sad to write about the fun of remodeling a house when so many have been forced into an unwanted 'remodel'. I feel guilty writing about settling into a new community with my husband when others are dealing with their grief.

Blogging seemed so trivial and self-serving; I decided to wait. I would wait until things were better, unhappy times had passed, everything got back to normal. But that's not how life works, is it? Life not only doesn't go 'back' to normal, it has no normal. We loose loved ones, and jobs. Marriages change, and illness comes. Houses flood, and plans are derailed. Relationships falter. Children go through difficult times and parents wring their hands. All of this is life.

Lately life has hit us with a wave of hard times, but we know there are joys to come. We will anticipate them with an optimism born of faith. And although I still feel that blogging is trivial, I enjoy the connection it gives me to the people I love, so I will start again. I will stop waiting for life to be perfect, that time will never come.

My new church home is Centenary United Methodist Church. They have a tradition at the end of each service that I initially thought was a little weird, but my perspective has changed. At the end of each service, the pastor asks, "Centenary, what happens here?" and the congregation responds, "Life happens here!"

So true.....So true....

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.

~Frederick Buechner

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on.

~Robert Frost

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.

~Grandma Moses

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Isaiah 41:10