For all the things that come along in life, we can never be prepared for how we will react when things go in ways that we never expect.
Recently, after hearing about the death of two of my cousins, I was saddened in a way that I have never been before. One cousin, who I had the privilege of growing up with had a spot in my heart that I cannot explain what that was. She was a smoker, had a sailor's mouth and all kinds of flaws that each of us has. But, when it came down to it, she really did have a pretty good heart. She was kind and compassionate to so many people and really didn't care what others though of her. This gave her a personality that was larger than life. I can say that she truly will be missed by me and, I know, all of her immediate friends and family. The timing of her death made me believe that she had simply given up on life, but all things are set in time when it is all said and done.
Although I am still grieving her death, I feel that her life has changed me in many ways. I also am going through some grieving as my oldest is going through some great changes of her own. She just graduated from high school and will be going to college in a couple of weeks. This both excites me and gives me great concern at the same time. I am always hoping that everything I have done/said over the course of her life will have helped to prepare her in some way for the challenges ahead of her.
I ponder each and every thing that she will do and come across in her life as she is now entering a new chapter. I have high hopes that her life will grow as she discovers who she is and what she is about as God fulfills that purpose in her life. I have all of those same hopes and dreams for both my younger children as well.
As a new school year approaches, I am always hopeful that things will improve and all of my children will grow and fulfill their potentials. Life will always be full of the unexpected but, I am hopeful that all things work out just the way God wants them to be as long as we are faithful in our endeavors for him.
