jumble of thoughts

Friend of mine in town here had her baby (girl) early this week. She was hoping to have her early, and did. Good news. Then, we got a call today that a member of Rob's extended family has died. Bad news. Also, the news that another extended family member is ill.

So often, it seems, that a birth and a death in people's lives tend to go hand in hand. Take Roo's birth, within a day of my grandmother's death. Richard (the family member who died) was actually our first visitor in our little home here. He leaves behind a wife and a teenaged son. A filmmaker by trade, he never got to finish his legacy project, the film about the family bishop.

Just another reminder that we can plan our lives out to the minute...but our plans are just that - plans. We don't get the final say on how things work out. We don't get to decide exactly how our lives play out. That reality doesn't take away our responsibility to make choices that set us up for good things - education, savings accounts, RRSP/RESP accounts, whatever. We can say dumb things like "I'll never live in Saskatchewan" to friends, and have them laugh at you a few years down the road while you pack moving boxes.

Do I know what life will look like in 2, 5, 10 years? Not really. I have my ideas, our dreams and thoughts...but we don't know for sure. A life-changing phone call is always a possibility. A diagnosis of something unexpected, or a strange bend in the road can sneak up on us at any time.

It's a very good reminder that we aren't in control. My slight control freak self doesn't like that thought, but it is a reality. However, knowing that God is in control, that brings peace. There is peace in knowing that when we are believers, that death here on earth isn't the end. That there is more to come. That is hopeful, encouraging and uplifting in the times that aren't quite so good.

I don't know where everyone's hearts lie, what the "state of their soul" is...but I do know that facing the harder times is easier to bear when you have hope in the one who created the world, sent his son, and brought eternal life. Amen for that!