“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

I’m feeling a bit better again. What does that look like? I can go longer in a day without  dissolving into tears. Every sight, sound, smell and situation doesn’t call Becky to mind and make me miss her like crazy. But I still live each moment with the knowing that she is inaccessible to me.

I also know that life isn’t all about missing Becky. There is ‘other’ in my life – a husband to love and encourage, kids and grandkids to enjoy, a whole bunch of women to learn and grow with, and so much more. And the lessons the Lord shows me aren’t related only to this loss. He shows me other things too, for instance, about two weeks ago at church a crew
of people volunteered time to help plant trees around our year old building.  This landscaping project had been waiting on several things, most importantly the right time of year and weather conditions to plant young trees. The trees make a striking difference softening the geometric contours of the building. But even with that difference
some people just didn’t see the trees until this week. In the course of one week the trees have gone from a summery green to a gorgeous flaming red.  It is the time of year for this color change to happen, but the other trees around us are gradually easing into their new
coats. The tree in front of our house is still largely green, speckled with the beginning of a fall coat of scarlet. But the trees on the West side of the church have undergone an almost overnight amazing transformation.

I’m not an Arborist, but my assumption is that the speed of this color change is at least in part due to stress. As I looked at the trees and the warm red tint of the light surrounding them and flowing into our West hallway, I praised God for the beauty of this part of His creation. I feel confident that the stress the trees have experienced will clear and next
year, right on time in the Spring, they will once again put on leaves in response to the plan of our great Creator God.

So maybe this post is a bit about Becky. I hope and pray that my life and the lives of those of us so significantly impacted by losing Becky also shine some transcendent light in the midst of overwhelming stress. And I hope and pray that as we move forward step by step in time we too will continue to respond to the plan of God for our lives.

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalms 1:2, 3