My life has begun a new dance. The drum beat has slowed down. Oh that’s just a poetic way of stating I’m growing old. I’m an empty nester and the hectic sometimes chaotic rhythm of still raising children has gone. Now I am an observer. I’m watching my daughter and her family, my son and his family go from one lacrosse tournament, to the next baseball, softball, or football event. I look at their calendars and go “Whoo I’ll follow along as best I can.” I’m in my gray years. Or I assume I have gray hairs only my hair stylist knows the truth of that statement. I only wish I could say time has slowed down but if anything I feel it speeding past and because of my slowly aging body I just can’t keep up.
It seemed I blinked and life marched on. Just this week my third grandson reached double digits. I asked him not to turn 10 but he stated the obvious, “I can’t do that. It is not possible.” Next week my oldest grandson will finish his first year at Denver University. In September he will turn 20. In my mind I’m still chasing him around the house hearing his giggles. Time is a thief and it beats on whether I want it to or not.
However the end of one era is the beginning of a new one. Our lives are dotted with beginnings and endings. The seasons of my life, the lives of my children and grandchildren change like the seasons of my new life in Knoxville, TN. We actually have all four seasons. Starts and finishes, they are always changing and evolving. As I write this I am realizing we are finishing up our first year in Knoxville. My takeaway from this reflection: God met me in the unknown.
There is a Hebrew name for God that I now Know God as. JEHOVAH SHAMMA, THE LORD IS THERE. I realized I didn’t leave God behind in Denton, TX, or Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Oklahoma City, or Artesia, NM. Okay, Okay, I can write this with hindsight. In reflection I see God there in each city, in each home, but now I can also see Him with forward looking eyes. I see Him going before me, preparing the way, picking out the neighborhoods, the churches, and the Bible study groups. HE IS ALWAYS THERE!
“Where could I go from your Spirit? Where could I run and hide from your face? Wherever I go, your hand will guide me; your strength will empower me.”
Psalms 139:7, 10 TPT
I’m 64 years old right now. My goal for this season is to walk in wisdom. I read this quote yesterday in my DAILY INSPIRATION devotional. “The key is to gracefully let go of what is ending and gratefully embrace what is starting. Every end is a chance to let go of things that no longer serve us and hold us back. Every end is a new beginning brimming with a brighter future with God.”
Summer is here. My calendar has cleared. My Bible studies have paused. School is out. My wisdom point: Listen for the sacred hush that summer offers to bring. Longer days stretch out before me. I’m standing at the edge of last year and looking over the chasm of the unknown. A blank page lays before me. A new chapter is waiting to be written. What story will it tell? What words will God write? I need to intentionally co-author this chapter with the Author and Perfecter of my life. If I choose, it will be one faith filled thought at a time because I know every great story starts with a mind centered on the One who created me.
Life moves fast. I will blink and summer 2026 will be gone, but right now in this moment it stands as a blank slate ready for the story God will write. What lies before me is new, it is unknown.
God doesn’t ask me to know the future. That’s His job. He just asks me to trust Him in the unknown. Ask God to give you the eyes to see “THE GOD WHO IS ALREADY THERE.”
“Here’s what Yahweh says to you: “I know all about the marvelous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. My intention is not to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 TPT
Glad your back with a grace and tenderness you are so rightly know for.
Thank you dear husband
Thanks for the dance all these years