"Things must change" I’ve said. "We either change or we die." "Healthy families, churches, etc. will experience and accept some degree of change." I think I’ve made these statements before.
Today, I’m ready to hit the delete button on the above statements. Today, we make a trip to Harding to help Christine get ready for her senior year. It is probably the last trip like this since she will be graduating in May. It’s an annual event. She drives her car, loaded with her stuff. Charlotte and I drive the Explorer. The trip is about seven and a half hours. We get there and go to a storage place where her winter clothes, shoes, small refrigerator, stereo, shoes, kitchen supplies, etc have been stored for the summer. We load all of that and then carry it all to the third floor of the dorm. That evening after it is all done, we will eat at Dixie Cafe. The restaurant will be filled with other parents and daughters who are doing the same thing. (I think guys must do this differently).
I can’t imagine this ending. Meanwhile, the other daughter is a senior in high school this year. It seems like there are constant reminders of "lasts." Last time to fill out those papers before the school year begins (now that’s ok!). The other day we picked up our high school football tickets for the season. We have sat in the same seats every year since she was a freshman. I looked at those tickets and thought, "What will we do next year?"
I can’t keep driveling like this.
It all does remind me that things really do change. I can tell that when I look in the mirror. Not only are my children growing up but I am getting a little older (notice how I minimize that!). Yet, I really do think that all of this can be ok.
Life is not about holding on to the past. It is not about grasping onto our children (or anything else) as we have enjoyed them, demanding that the situation never change. Life really is about holding on to Jesus. As the writer of Hebrews declares:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)