Things That Change

She's lived in the same house for over forty years. I suppose that's why it is so difficult for my wife to lose her mother to illness and advanced age. The picture of her parents in that big old house with the comfortable chairs on the wide porch has remained constant for over four decades.

It's not simply the final struggle that ended her mother's life that hurts so much. It's that with her passing so too will go the evenings on that porch and the familiar sight of her tatting materials laid out next to her favorite spot in the living room.

Lise said that now she won't be able to just pick up the phone and call her up to say hello. So many little habits and situations will simply not be possible anymore.

Sometimes when "great" people die they say "it's the end of an era." But this is also true whenever someone you love dies – it's the end of a personal era for you. No more evenings on the porch; no more laughter on the phone; no more Scrabble till late at night….no more anything except remembering what is no more.

I am thankful that God is the God who never changes, because this life is so full of bitter change. I am grateful that despite the painful change our family must accommodate, the God who comforts us remains the same even when all else will never be the same again.