Life Changes

Once again we have had a major change in our life.  Yesterday our daughter's family left their home 2 hours away from us to travel across the country to begin a new adventure in their lives.  As a mama, this has been hard to let go - to say goodbye.  As I spent a few days helping with the packing and trying to get in every last minute I could with my 4 year old grandson, my thoughts were all over the place.  I kept thinking of families in the past.  When Pioneers left their homes to travel across the country in a covered wagon, there were no telephones, no computers, no Skype.  Goodbye usually meant goodbye.  I'm so very thankful I don't live in that time and space for that very reason.  I also kept going over and over in my mind scenes from my past when my family left our families and moved 500 plus miles away.  We also took our children away from their grandparents, their aunts and uncles and cousins.  I kept remembering the look in my mother's eyes and the tremor in her voice as I told her we were moving away - far away from her and taking her precious grandchildren with us.

So today I begin my new life also, and I will be fine.  As long as my daughter and her family are okay, I will be okay.  I'm not foolish enough to pretend there won't be moments, even days of sadness and longing for that little hand to be reaching for mine.  The little voice that would say to me, "I love you so much, Grandma" will come over the phone now and be minus those big brown eyes that he inherited from me and from his mother.  We will need to find new ways to stay connected until a visit can occur.

I will enjoy time with my son and his family that live locally.  I will get to know my brand new granddaughter and enjoy watching her grow and discover life around her.  I will look forward to the day when she will put her little hand in mind and say, "Grandma, I love you so much".

I will enjoy time with my wonderful husband, my childhood sweetheart.  We will work together, side by side, on this mountain.  We will continue to make sure this Retreat Center is a place where folks can come and rest, restore and reconnect with God and each other.  We will laugh together, cry together, and remember together.  We will plan and save and look forward to a trip out East to visit and enjoy.  We will pray and thank our Heavenly Father four our amazing blessings of life, health, joy and yes, even trials.

God is GOOD...All The Time!