I am creature of habit - I love my life! I have a routine that I enjoy and have been blessed beyond measure! My day begins in a fog (I am not a morning person) but once up and dressed - life is pretty much predictable for me - work, church activities, dogs, bible study/devotion, a little TV perhaps, bed. It may sound boring to you but it is good for me.
I say all of that to tell you that I do not like change - I want to run from it or hide from it; ignore it or refuse it BUT change comes no matter what! Sometimes it is a good change - like a new puppy or a new adventure. Other times it just plain hurts. This is one of those times.
In less than 24 hours my brother, Jesse, will be boarding a plane leaving the United States for a new life in the Phillippines. This is his choice - no one is making him - not his career or such. He decided to leave the life that he has known here since his birth. He is leaving his children and his grandchild, his mother, his family, his friends, his band for greener pastures - how could that be? Are there greener pastures elsewhere? Will he find what he is looking there? How can a man who has SO much here expect to find more elsewhere?
For weeks now, I have been praying for understanding - I dont have it yet but I will continue to pray. This change consumes my prayer life in so many ways - I pray for his safety, his happiness and his salvation. I pray for his children who feel abandoned now and who will have to face the problems of this life without an earthly father to call to run to their sides. I pray for his grandbaby, Zoey, who will grow up without knowing his touch, his laugh, the twinkle in his eye, the wonderful musician that he is. I pray for my mother who is heartbroken because both of her boys are no longer in arms reach. I pray for me as I know become daughter and son both in the affairs of my mother. I pray for our family as we approach the holidays with yet another one missing - may the Lord hold each and every one of us tightly during these trying times.
I cling to my faith and to the Bible especially the following verses....
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
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Romans 8:28
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding Proverbs 3:5
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
I may never understand nor be able to imagine why this had to happen BUT
Jesse - I LOVE YOU! I am so glad that God chose to put you in my family!
Peace my brother!!
