A blink of an eye...

So, I know I promised no more of the melancholy...but it is the season I find myself in. Today, I got a call from one of my best friend's telling me her mother had chosen to end her life. There were no signs, no warnings, no red flags. Not one of the people in her inmost circle knew she was feeling depressed, let alone contemplating such an act.

Blink.

Last week, a friend's water broke during her 25th week of pregnancy. She is on bedrest indefinitely until the birth of the baby.

Blink.

About a month ago, a "second mother" of mine was bending down to pick something up, when a blood vessel burst in her head, almost taking her life in an instant.

Blink.

Almost 5 years ago, my cousin's husband was killed while driving home from the gym when a deer ramed into the driver's side of his car. She was on bedrest, pregnant with their third child when she got the news.

Blink.

That is all it takes. One...single...blink. And life changes. It seems like things are crumbling in lives around me...people's lives are changing forever in the course of a single moment. I keep asking God, what am I supposed to be learning from all of this? They are not my tragedies, but I still feel as though they are. But, maybe that is the point, to make other's tragedies our own by feeling with them, while remaining hopeful of purpose, of meaning, and of one day, gaining understanding. I remain hopeful in the old addage that "everything happens for a reason." I remain hopeful in the Christian cliche that "God is in control." And I remain cognizant of the fact that all it takes is one blink for our lives to change forever.

Don't wait for the blink, find your hope now....

Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields [b] with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Tomorrow, I am leaving for a weekend trip with my husband and daughter. We are going to make the most of every moment so that if we do ever have to blink, all we will see will be beautiful memories.

Here's to the stillness in knowing He is still God in the aftermath of a blink...

Until next time...
-C.