A Hard Journey

Today was a day for sharing with a friend whose mother died a few days ago.  She was a year on the other side of ninety years of age and her son and my friend was her principal caregiver as she lived out her days at home. Anyone who has ever walked in the shoes of a caregiver for an extended period of time knows something of how he feels tonight.  I pray for him tonight as he walks into a new beginning in his life.  I pray, too,  for a friend of my sister who is even older as he walks in what appears to be the last days of his life here among us.    

What we know as we move away from such moments is that life goes on, but knowing does not make it any easier.  A few days ago here at the farm I spent a lot of time picking up fallen pecan limbs which had broken during recent winds.  I remember getting an area cleaned of limbs and thinking how good it looked.  Today the same area was clutterd with new limbs.  More work was on the ground waiting.  The newly fallen limbs littering up the ground made me aware there is always more to do with this thing called living.   

I pray for my friend who must find his way and for a family in another state who is facing the same journey.  New beginnings after personal loss are never easy.  Each person's journey into what God has laid out ahead of us is theirs and theirs alone to walk.  Having walked that road a piece, I wish I could take my friend up the way where the way out of the darkness might be clearer, but it is his journey to take and not mine.  I can and will pray for him.  We all know folks who are at different points on this journey and knowing them is surely God's way of calling us to pray for them.