Peace...

Snow '25

There is something peaceful about the early morning hours when everything around you begins to wake up. There is a calmness that can't be described or explained; it just is. I wrote a couple of days ago about one of the questions my students asked each year, "Is it going to snow?" The answer is, "Yes, yes, it is!" At my home, we received 11 inches and it is still lightly snowing. The most we have received in many many years. I sit in my spot, drinking my cup of coffee and thinking. The shades are raised and I can see the snow-covered ground and trees around my home. Part of OCD is that your mind never stops. As I see the peace around, I know a storm is coming. This will not be a peaceful snowstorm that leaves beauty in its path, but sorrow and sadness. Yet, in that sorrow and sadness, there is beauty, the beauty of a life everylasting.

There is a lady that I know. When I met her, she was a young girl. I had just been put into foster care and was 16. This lady was just 8 years old. Her mother was and has always been a source of strength for me. That story, I will tell at some point. But back to this lady. She spent a lot of time with me in her younger years. When I was put into foster care, I met my husband at the new school they sent me to. We became high school sweethearts a year later and we have been together for over 40 years. This lady would go on dates with my husband and I. She has been a part of my life since that time. At times throughout the years, we have been closer, and at other times farther apart. No matter the season, she has been in my heart. She is special to me. She called me yesterday, and as we talked, I didn't have the words I wanted to say. Often, that is the way I am. I don't have the words in person to say to someone, but when I sit and think I wish I would have said so many other things. I didn't have the words, but my heart did.

You see, some people come into our lives in seasons and leave. Some people come into our lives and stay. Others come in and out, closer at some times, but farther away at other times. Every person holds a special meaning and a reason for their entrance, exit, and presence.

I have known my current administrator for 25 years. He is a man of God. Once he quoted a part of a scripture to me, Proverbs 27:17. "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." The Hebrew word "Shanan" means to sharpen or whet, but figuratively it means to give knowledge or teach. As people come into and out of our lives, they do indeed teach us and give us knowledge. But, people also come in and out of our lives to build us and love us. I Thessalonians 5:11 states, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” When we "just love on" each other, we are showing the love God gave us and teaching each other how to love deeper and fuller. In John 13:34, God gave us all a commandment to love one another, as God loved us. This lady shows that love in her actions. She is kind and I am blessed. She IS strong!