Empty Arms

Today while I was driving to church for Bible study I was taken by the loneliness of the trees~their empty branches reaching into the heavens~ as if to grasp and firmly hold on to something, someone one. Yet ever, ever empty arms, striving -so forlorn. I felt deep in my spirit I could associate with that grieving loss and pain. We all go through seasons of loss and loneliness, seeking for that something that will satisfy a sense of barrenness in our lives. I suffered this loss of purpose immediately following my retirement from teaching! The loneliness and bleakness of those days while I was seeking redefinition were much like the grasping trees seeking redemption for their loss of fertility. But just as the trees will live to bud and blossom again, so too did I then and will I now move into renewed purpose in life. Yes, I am feeling a loss and emptiness with the swift approach of my only child's move so far away. Yes, there is a feeling of bereft loneliness and dismay as I contemplate the miles of separation that will necessarily divide us, but just as God has ordered the seasons of life to ebb and flow so too will I pass into a renewed season with Him, with my husband, with my niche in my church and community. I will again redefine my life~ grow, and prosper in my new identity, not distinguished by grief, but by victory and completion.

~A new dawn is coming!~