Author: cmmary2021

As the youngest of three children, my oft-repeated refrain was “Wait!!! Wait!!!” My older siblings and cousins would leave me in the dust… like a slow-moving turtle who wanted to be a part of everything the big kids did but wasn’t fast enough to keep up. I was ahead of my time as a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) personality!

Learning how to wait — and wait well — seems to be a lesson God has been zeroing in on the past few months. Unfortunately, I’ve flunked several of my “waiting tests,” but as a good teacher, He keeps giving me opportunities to learn, to grow, to put into practice principles that continue to surface through a variety of life experiences.

The main on-going lesson is with my vision. The last time I blogged was — gulp!! — November 4th. In all honesty, I kept putting off writing because I wanted to have a happy ending to that post. Instead… guess what?! I’m still waiting to have clear vision!! I have since had a second procedure to address the blurriness issue. From a medical point-of-view, everything looks good. I just need to… you guessed it! WAIT!!!

In addition to this in-my-face example, it also seems that often these past months, when reading God’s Word, the word WAIT pops up!

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 37:7a

Ugh. A double whammy. Be STILL. Wait PATIENTLY. 

My tutorials on waiting have also been emphasizing the need to be still, which in my mind connotes being at rest, at peace. Not being anxious. I picture a body of water with no waves, no current, no turbulence. Quiet. Tranquil. An inviting place that is life-giving.

Too often, my waiting is characterized by NOT being still. NOT being at rest. More like chaos with an inner unsettledness, all of which are polar opposites from what the psalmist is inviting us to do.

Be STILL and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46:10

Being still and waiting — waiting well — are both rooted not so much in technique as in a person: God. Why a person? Because He knows me best. He knows what I’m going through, what I’m struggling with, what my hopes and dreams and fears are. He knows that I want to see clearly physically, but from His perspective, more important to my life is that I see clearly spiritually.

When my spiritual vision is clear, then I can rest in knowing that my loving Father is truly working ALL things together for my good (see Romans 8:28). I can be still, quiet, at peace knowing that His timing is perfect — even though it frequently is different from mine! The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah relayed God’s words to people in exile saying,

“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

So… the lessons continue! The waiting goes on. But knowing that God is directing my steps, not playing games with me or deliberately trying to derail me (that’s what the enemy of our souls does!) enables me to have joy in the journey of this thing we call “Life!” May that be true of you as well.

PS

Even the music I have been listening to during my morning devotional times with God has had a waiting theme! Two stanzas from this song have impacted me:

… I will worship in the waiting
when I cannot see the end…
… If I’m waiting, God you’re moving…

“Waiting” by Healing Place Worship

It’s been almost six weeks. SIX weeks since I had cataract surgery. My vision is still not clear. Every day when I wake up I wonder if this will be the day when voila! Everything is clear! Last week’s follow-up appointment showed that my eyes are healing well, that everything is ok… but still… my vision is out of focus.

It’s been frustrating. Disorienting. It’s even affected my balance, throwing it off a bit — as experienced when I fell a couple of weeks ago. The fall was a bit comical in retrospect… one foot caught on an uneven pavement and then, as if in slow motion, I was unable to regain my balance and went down on the opposite hip, scraping my arm as it tried to protect the fall. Thankfully, nothing was broken… but I did hobble around for a few weeks until my wrenched knee no longer was bothersome.

The fall accentuated the problem of having distorted vision. But it also surfaced a distorted view of life. I started wondering if my eyes will EVER get better? Was the surgery a mistake? What if….?

My focus — my vision, even my view of myself and life — was clouded, confused. Not being sure-footed or stable surfaced fear and robbed me of peace and confidence.

Sometimes this happens in our relationship with God as well. Our focus on who we are in Christ, on who HE is becomes unclear. We forget what GOD says about us… and we become fearful, defeated. Peace and confidence elude us. We get tripped up over things that ususally wouldn’t be a problem.

So… what DOES God say about us? about who we are? For those who have placed their faith and trust in God, He says…

• We are His child, adopted into His family.
• We are complete in Him and have everything that we need to live life abundantly.
• We are a “new creature” because of being born into His family.
• We are a unique, one-of-a-kind individual.
• We are His ambassadors here on planet Earth, representing Him to the world around us.
• We are His light in a world of darkness.
• We have been given specific gifts/abilities that enable us to function/serve others.
• We are a member of His body — a worldwide community of Christ followers.

I was sharing this list with a group recently and asked them to consider…

• If I’m _______ (fill in the blank with one of the above), how does that affect what I do? what I say? how I think?
• In other words, how does ______ affect my character? my thoughts? my actions?
• Which of these is hardest for me to believe is true about myself? Why???

Sometimes I struggle with recognizing and accepting my capabilities and limitations. For example, it’s easy for me to see my inadequacies, my insecurities, all the “but’s…” in my life. I fall into a trap of comparing myself to others… and as a result, always fall short.

Going back to blurry vision and how it distorts our view… when my focus gets out-of-whack regarding how God sees me, I’m much more susceptible to listening to things that are untrue… like playing a tape (think of the old cassette tapes) that rehearses all the things that are UNtrue about me instead of listening to the new tape that counters those false claims with what God says.

What we spend our time thinking about has the power to affect our emotions, our actions, our character.

One thing this latest life experience has surfaced is how crucial it is for me to make sure I’m listening to the right things. There are no easy fixes for this, but a good place to start is what the Bible calls “being renewed in our minds.” (see Romans 12: 2) Renewing is like rebooting a computer — stopping what we’re thinking, restarting by installing a new “tape”, and then moving forward “refreshed,” so to speak. This isn’t a one-time thing, but something that needs to be repeated as often as necessary.

Another helpful action is to take our thoughts “captive.” (see 2 Corinthians 10:5) I’m a visual person, and so I picture a wrong thought as something I need to lasso and throw in jail (!) where it can’t have any more influence on me. Easier said than done, but the idea is that we need to be pro-active about what thoughts we allow our minds to dwell on.

There are a lot of voices trying to get our attention, trying to capture our minds and our thoughts. Social media, advertisements, others’ opinions to name a few. Who are going to listen to?? May we encourage one another to daily be in God’s Word so that we’re hearing what HE says is true.

I’m not sure when — or even if — my vision will be restored, but in the meantime, I’m grateful for some of the lessons that have surfaced because of this experience. I’m also grateful for how God often uses others — like when I needed to hang onto my husband’s arm when my walking was unsteady — to enable me, to enable all of us to have joy in the journey of this thing we call “Life!”

We had only been out of town a week. But during that time, it seems the local pigeon population had a convention on our balcony. Evidently, they all ate something that gave them diarrhea. Not only the balcony floor was covered, but also some of the glass sliding doors, which were under a popular roosting spot, were splattered.

NOT a pretty sight.

And NOT a pretty attitude on my part!

Our balcony has a lovely view of nearby mountains (more like hills, but they call them mountains here). Sunsets are spectacular. My morning Quiet Time — a time of being quiet before the Lord, listening to music that helps me focus my thoughts on God, reading the Bible, praying — is my favorite time of the day as I sit listening to the serenade of birds (NOT pigeons, but other birds!) and soaking in the beauty of the vista.

And so, after the “convention,” my view was marred… until I got down on my hands and knees and worked to clean up the mess.

Hmm… this graphic picture made me think of sin in my life. Yep, it’s ugly. Dirty. Some is “surfacy” and cleans relatively easy… but other things are more deeply embedded and need the deep-cleaning “scrub-with-a-tootbrush- treatment” that was necessary to get our balcony clean.

Just as not cleaning up the residue from the birds would hinder my ability to enjoy our balcony, so not cleaning up the sin in my life hinders my relationship with God. NOT a pretty picture, on both counts.

Where I get tripped up the most with sin — which is anything that comes short of a holy, perfect God’s standards — is with my attitudes. I’m not going to kill someone or rob a bank, but I do sometimes struggle with being anxious, which basically indicates that I’m trusting in my efforts instead of relying on God. And falling into a comparison trap, which often reveals a lack of contentment regarding where I am in life, what I have, who I am (with my particular gifts and abilities).

Just a few days ago I had a doctor’s appointment that threw me off kilter. It was a routine visit to the ophthalmologist, but the diagnosis — that I need cataract surgery — wasn’t on my radar! A date for surgery was set, but a few hours later I chickened out and cancelled.

Later that same evening, after chatting with a friend who shared some helpful insights, doing some research to allay my biggest fear (we’re scheduled to fly two weeks after the surgery, and I was anxious about the safety of doing that — even tho the doctor had assured me it would be ok!), and a LOT of prayer, I realized that the real issue was one of trust: could I commit the health of my eyes into the hands of the surgeon — and ultimately to God?

Yep. Back to the “being anxious = lack of trust” issue. Something God keeps graciously dealing with in my life.

• Pour out ALL your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you. I Peter 5:7
• Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overwhelming gratitude. Tell Him EVERY detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:6-7

My war with pigeons is a good reminder to make sure I clean up my OWN life. I don’t want anything to interfere with my relationship with God. Thankfully, He’s a loving, patient Father who readily restores my relationship once I come to Him and admit where I’m trusting in my own efforts instead of relying totally on Him.

I’m not sure what it may be in your life that may resemble the aftermath of our pigeon convention, but I do know that God is eager to come alongside you as you deal with the messes in life. He’s not waiting till everything is cleaned up — He knows that some things are easier to deal with than others, but He wants your relationship to be restored. He’s already done everything in His power to enable that by sending His Son to die for our sins. It’s up to us if we choose to take advantage of that incredible gift on our behalf.

… and that, dear friends, is how we truly can have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”

A little quiz for you! What do you observe in the above picture that indicates it was NOT taken from where we currently live? Leave your response in the “Comment” section.

“Sitting vigil” and “active death” were unfamiliar terms for me… until nine years ago. My mom had been battling cancer, and now these strange, new, unwelcomed, frightening concepts had crept into our vocabulary and our experience. Thankfully, hospice nurses were educating my husband, siblings, and me to understand what the body goes through as it shuts down and eventually stops. When death claims one’s loved one.

It often felt like this journey was someone else’s… should be someone else’s. It couldn’t possibly be mine. My mom had always been there for me, my greatest cheerleader. My dad had predeceased her, and so with her death — well, now I’d be an orphan.

When I started this blog two years ago, it was in honor of my mom. And so, on this — the ninth anniversary of saying our final farewells — it only seems appropriate to once again turn my thoughts to her.

In the early weeks and months after her passing I journaled. A LOT. Putting my thoughts, my often-conflicting emotions on paper helped me process what was going on in my head and my heart.

Grief.
It has no schedule, no timetable.
It has no right or wrong procedure, no instruction manual.
It comes at unexpected times —
as well as what might be considered “normal.”
It surprises one with its intensity, peculiarities.
It affects individuals differently.
It is deeply personal and mostly private.
It can be misunderstood by all save the one involved.
It hurts, it aches, it surfaces a myriad of emotions.
It has to be.

from my journal a few days prior to the one-year anniversary of my mom’s death … ” Thursday, August 20th”

In my initial blog (“Remembering my mom… August 31, 2021”) I shared how, through her death, I came to realize in a powerful way how God is always here for me… how He’s my biggest fan… how He always WILL be here for me.

I also began to see how “even though I no longer ‘hear’ my mom’s voice of encouragement, God often uses others to speak His message of hope and healing to my heart.”

Loss is hard. Gut-wrenchingly hard. Not only loss of a loved one, but also other losses in life — loss of a job, relationship, financial security, home. And as I shared in that initial blog, “ALL of us need to be reminded that God is rooting for us and wants to see us grow and prosper. No matter what time of day or night, HIS voice is ready and eager to reassure us of His love, His faithfulness, His commitment to us, His ability to make possible those things we deem impossible.”

Be that someone this week who can speak words of encouragement, words of hope and healing to another person’s heart. We desperately need one another — we were made for community, for relationships, not to be lone rangers — and together, we can have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”

“The Cypress Maze” by Fiona Valpy is an historical novel set in Italy during two juxtaposed time periods, 1943 and 2015. One part of the intriguing story revolves around young children who found refuge from the horrors of war in a beautiful villa in the seemingly peaceful Tuscan countryside.

Gio and Alfredo, one from the local village and the other from the bombed-out city of Turin, became fast friends. One day, young Alfredo was found crying inconsolably. In his hand were the crushed remains of a butterfly. His friend Gio explained that “We didn’t mean to hurt it. We thought we were helping.”

The boys had found a butterfly chrysalis (cocoon) as they explored the grounds of the villa. In their innocence, they thought they would “help” the butterfly by releasing it from its “cage.” Gio said, “We only wanted to let the butterfly come out and spread its wings in the sunshine. We wanted to save it the struggle and keep its strength for flying.”

The kind woman who had opened her home to the refugees gently explained to the young boys…

“But you see, my darlings, you can’t do the work for it.
The butterfly has to struggle to release itself from the cocoon
in order to become strong enough to fly.
See how its wings were fully formed?
But nature still needed it to go through a little more
so it could develop its strength.
You meant well, I know.
You wanted to help it,
to save it from the hard work.
But now you understand,
it’s the struggle itself
that gives the butterfly the strength to survive.

Francesca in Chapter 19, Beatrice’s Story — 1942, page 132

“It’s the struggle itself that gives the butterfly the strength to survive.”

How often do I find myself responding to life in the same way the boys did???

• Thinking that by avoiding struggles, wanting to make things easier, looking for an escape from conflict or pain or hard issues is the best route?
• Interfering in the lives of others thinking I’m helping… when actually the best thing they — and I — need is to go through whatever is before us?

“God’s Instruction Manual” (aka the Bible) talks about how life IS hard. It IS filled with struggles, heartache, injustices. They are often referred to as “fiery trials” — fiery because they’re intense, impassioned, have a lot of heat and potential for hurt. And yet they have benefits (which often aren’t felt or understood at the moment — voice of experience speaking!):

• Develop perseverance, and perseverance leads to maturity/not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).
• One author (Paul) goes so far as to say that we can REJOICE (!) in our sufferings because they produce perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us… (Romans 5: 3-5).
• “Enduring hardship” is actually a demonstration that God loves us. Why? Because it’s showing that He’s disciplining us, treating us as His children. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12: 7, 11).

Yes, like the young boys I often want to help things along by avoiding the cramped/unproductive/HARD feelings of being stuck in the midst of struggles. And yet… it’s by these very struggles that my faith and trust in God most readily grows.

I also tend to want to short-circuit what God may be needing to do in the lives of others — especially those closest to me — by wanting to free the butterfly from its chrysalis, so to speak. But again, I need to get out of the way to let Him accomplish His purposes… in HIS time. I often forget that “It’s the struggle itself that gives the butterfly the strength to survive.”

I haven’t yet finished the book, but I’m already grateful for how a fictional story has brought such a practical truth to light. Just as the young boys were gently comforted by the wise words of Francesca (the owner of the villa), I’m encouraged by God’s tenderness in helping me grow as His child… how He is always with me, always loves me, always wants to make something beautiful out of the things (cocoons) in my life.

Chrysalis? or butterfly? May we encourage one another in whatever state we find ourselves and together have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”

references to “The Cypress Maze” by Fiona Valpy

published July 18, 2023 — available on Amazon.com

Ok. I admit it. I’m often a wimp. Not strong. Not courageous. Often afraid/fearful, insecure, overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy. Often discouraged…

And yet this past week I was reminded of how God works in our lives to give us opportunities to grow in faith, in obedience, in learning to align our perspective with His.

In the Old Testament of the Bible there is a story of how Moses, the leader of the Israelites, sent twelve men on a scouting expedition to check out the land they were hoping to possess. Ten of the twelve only saw the obstacles, the BUTs…

• BUT… the people who live there are powerful… and they are stronger than we are!
• BUT… the cities are fortified and very large!
• BUT… the descendants of the Anak are there… and the Amalekites… and the Hitties, Jebusites, Amorites (all peoples who had opposed the Israelites and warred against them at various times).
• BUT… the land devours those living in it!
• BUT… the people are of great size!
• AND… “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:33)

Interesting. They felt small, insignificant, powerless — like grasshoppers — in their own eyes, and as a result, that’s exactly how the inhabitants of the land viewed them.

The other two men on the scouting expedition — Joshua and Caleb — had a completely different report. They said the land is exceedingly GOOD!

“If the LORD is pleased with us, HE will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.”

Joshua’s report in Numbers 14:8

Ten saw ONLY the obstacles, the BUTs. Joshua and Caleb saw the possibilities. Why?

Because they were viewing the same challenges from God’s perspective.

The story continues with some powerful reminders:

Be strong and courageous,
because you will lead these people to inherit the land
I swore to their ancestors to give them.
Be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you….
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

God’s instructions to Joshua (Joshua 1: 6-9)

Did you happen to notice what was repeated three times???

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS !!!

Repeating BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS encourages my heart… because by repeating that phrase it indicates that there probably will be times when my strength is lacking. When my courage fails. Times when I may be terrified! Times when I may get discouraged. And yet God reassures us — each of us — that He will always be with us.

When I’m feeling rather wimp-ish, often it’s because –just like the ten — I’m only seeing the obstacles, all the BUTs. I’ve lost perspective, focus. I’ve forgotten that in my own strength I am weak, but with God — He delights in demonstrating His power IN my weaknesses! His grace truly is sufficient!

So, the next time you feel lacking in strength or courage… and maybe even feel fearful and discouraged… remember the two who saw challenges but viewed them as possibilities — not obstacles. Realign your perspective with God’s, recognizing this as an opportunity to grow in faith and obedience … and also remember that together we can have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”

photo credit: kensiekate.com

We dreamed. We prayed. We planned. We prayed some more.

The planning was for an annual women’s training here in Thailand — something, as team leader, I was intimately involved with! Participants had registered from four different countries. The team that would be leading the sessions was gearing up to join us from the US and the Philippines. The venue had been booked since last November and was awaiting our final count once registration closed the end of July.

But… because of the interactive nature of the training and because we didn’t have enough registrants, we had to cancel.

God said no.

Disappointing? Yes. Confusing? Yes.

This wasn’t the first time in my life that God halted plans I have made — nor will it be the last.

I remember how, as newlyweds, we had dreams and hopes and plans about our future… how we would start our family after a couple of years and then have three kids (since we both came from families with three kiddos, that seemed the likely number). That dream took us on a new path when we learned, after being married six years, that we wouldn’t be able to have biological children.

Disappointing? Yes. Confusing? Absolutely! How could this be happening to someone who used to dress her dog up in doll clothes and push her around in a baby stroller?!?

Another plan that went haywire was our desire to continue traveling to and working in then-Communist Romania once we moved from there to Austria when our student visas expired. It only made sense to us — since we had learned the language and had so many wonderful relationships there — that God would want us to keep building upon that foundation. And yet on our very first train trip there after moving we were both ushered off the train when crossing the Hungarian/Romanian border… and my husband was not allowed to reenter Romania for six years.

Disappointing? Yes! Confusing? Totally! Wasn’t this a waste of all those hours of language learning?!?

More halted, re-directed, discarded-altogether plans have occurred in subsequent years, and yet some valuable lessons have also surfaced.

For I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

All my life’s whys and whens and wheres and wherefores are in God’s hands.

Psalm 31:15 as translated by Dan Crawford into Lubu, a Bantu language

The more I get to know God as a loving Father — MY Father — the more I’m able to rest in knowing that HE is in charge. That HE knows what He’s doing.

And so disappointments, as they continue to come, are things I endeavor to see through the lens of a loving Father who ultimately knows what’s best. Notice I said, “endeavor to see.” Some days I do that better than others… I’m still learning, still growing.

As to the saying “God’s ‘no’ is actually a ‘I have something better in mind’ “… that proved true for us in both the above examples. In God’s timing He provided two incredible children for us through adoption. And He used the no-longer-able-to-enter- Romania scenario to redirect our path to what we’re continuing to do today.

But, in all honesty, there are those times when God’s ‘no’ feels more like He doesn’t have something better in mind. And so when there seems to be no reason, no advantage, God’s ‘no’ ends up being a response we just have to sit with. Accept. And trust that the finality of His answer will ultimately be for our good. Other times ‘no’ means ‘wait.’ Both types of ‘no’ are hard. Both are opportunities for us to realign our perspective with God’s.

When I wrote to the participants and the team that would be leading the training sessions I shared with them that…

God’s plan and ours for this fall’s training ended up being different. We’re confident, however, that HE knows what He’s doing — and so we rest and trust in that … and pray that God will use this experience to help each of us see Him in fresh ways.

When plans go awry, may we encourage one another to see those disappointments from a different perspective — from God’s point of view. And together, we’ll be able to have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”

You’d think I’d be better at this by now…

Having lived overseas for a number of years, there have been a LOT of people we’ve said goodbye to. I remember one time when we were living in Vienna, Austria — where it seemed a revolving door of hellos and goodbyes occurred because so many in the expat community were there for 2-3 years max — it dawned on me that I had developed a strange coping mechanism whenever a friend said they were going to move…

I would start withdrawing. Avoid getting together. Avoid revisiting all the memories from our shared experiences. I called it getting “weird.” But actually, it was a way of building a wall of protection around my fragile heart. An attempt to isolate myself from one more disappointment. An attempt to protect myself from the emptiness, the pain that my friend’s absence would bring. The hole in my heart couldn’t be filled by the next newcomer who came to town. And so I began to not even WANT to start new relationships as a way of preventing what would inevitably come to pass.

NOT a healthy way to deal with things!

After this eureka moment of identifying my ineffective coping strategy, more opportunities presented themselves for me to do things differently. Yep, it’s inevitable … but not just for those of us living overseas. People come and go in any community, anywhere on the globe! Our lives ebb and flow with changes in geography, job, season of life (think of kids and how the various stages from birth to out-of-the-home influence us!). Death itself is the final goodbye, and so ample opportunities to learn how to say goodbye abound.

And so when the time came for us to move from Europe — our home for 34 years — to Asia, I told those I was closest to (including our daughter, who would be remaining in Romania, where she had lived since she was 12 years old — and still lives!) about my tendency to get “weird.” I told them that I might start withdrawing. That I might avoid getting together. That I might say things that seemed out of character. That I probably would be more emotional, irritable, unpredictable. And I asked them to PLEASE say something to me, to bring this “weirdness” to my attention so that I wouldn’t cut them out of my life. This was when I needed them the most, even though everything about me was giving a different message. I also told them I’d bring it to their attention — with their permission — if I began to feel they were doing the same thing to me.

Wow! What a help that was — for all involved! It even opened up some opportunities for gut-level communication that was hard, but so very needed.

Fast forward to last week…

I had known my friend Marcia was going to be moving this summer. My husband and I had been in the States for two months, and so our first Sunday back home we got together with Marcia and her husband — naively acting as though this was a normal thing, not one of our last in-person times. A few weeks later we got together again…

… and now the “weirdness” set in. I felt like a zombie when we were together. More like an outsider than a participant in conversations. When I realized what I was doing, I shared my heart with them. What a relief to be able to talk about it and to also have the opportunity to share with them special memories of our times together, how they had impacted and influenced my life, what I appreciated about them. Things I needed to say, wanted to say… and yet had felt stymied when the “weirdness” set in.

The word Romanians use for goodbye is “La revedere.” Literally, to see again. Germans have a similar word, “Auf Wiedersehen.” Until we meet again. I like these much better than goodbye, which sounds so final!

As a Christ follower, there is truth in the fact that no matter what the future holds I will be seeing Marcia and her husband again… if not on this earth, someday in heaven. That softens the leave-taking that will occur tonight when we see them off at the airport. And knowing this is what helps me to have joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!”