Life is a Highway

My mind has been occupied by deep thoughts lately. Thoughts so deep I find ,y eyes welling with tears at random moments throughout the day. These tears are not for myself or for anything that I have been hurt by, but instead for others. We have all heard that life is fragile and to live each moment as if it were your last, but how many of us can actually say that we do? I am included in that, as you know, I started this blog to train myself to look at all the positives in life and allow the negative to pass like water under a bridge. I will say it has helped, but it takes a lot of training to get your mind to think in a different way.

Over the past week I have become aware of some very sad stories that have caused me to really stop and think. This week a Freshman at the high school I attended took his own life behind the school. A friend's grandma passed away. I have recently read the blog of a woman whose husband passed away. Yet another high school student committed suicide in front of his girlfriend.

And some good..... A family adopted a little boy. A friend is entering a new beginning with Christ and is being baptized this coming Sunday.

And some in between...Kyle and I are at an unknown part of life, wondering what next school year will bring. G-pa N undergoes surgery next Friday. My nephew is crawling like a champ. New life is evident all over in nature, buds are forming, birds are chirping, tulips are peeking and daffodils are pushing through the soil.

Life, in all phases and stages.

My heart is torn. It breaks for the world, but yet it leaps for joy. I am torn. It seems as if each good thing is followed by a bad and each bad is followed by a good. I guess this is God's little way of reminding us we can't do this on our own and we need to keep our hearts in check.

I do not have a great connection to any of the people that I wrote about in the sad moments, but somehow I still feel affected. I wonder about them. I wonder about their life, their family, their dreams and goals. I wonder about girlfriends, friends and acquaintances. I wonder about teachers, principals, counselors, nurses and doctors that have all had some type of contact with them. My heart goes out to all of them. Sometimes people are forgotten when grief hits.

Then I look out my window and I see the sun shining. I listen as Kyle flips through the pages of his recently arrived ESPN the magazine. I can hear him breathing and can watch as his chest falls up and down with every breath. And then I thank God. I thank God for life, for love and for compassion. I thank God for death, new life and comfort. I thank God for blessings, forgiveness and second chances.

Life is fragile. Life is beautiful. Life is uncertain. Life has a plan. My life is God's.

I have always been drawn to a group of verses in Ecclesiastes. I have watched many people roll their eyes as it is read out of familiarity, overuse or being hardened. But today as you read it I ask that you really take each part to heart and let the words stick with you throughout your weekend.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

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.

My thoughts are kind of jumbled at the moment, so I apologize for the random organization of this blog.

Sharing a little beauty from life with you.