It’s very common for grief to hit hard with the changing of seasons.
* That little blade of green grass peeking through a brown, brittle terrain.
* Red checkered table cloths and burgers on a grill.
* Leaves whirling by on a crisp, cool morning.
* A frozen turkey in the grocery store cooler.
Moving from winter…to spring…to summer…to fall are all subtle reminders that time has stopped for the one you loved and you’re moving forward without them.
But this rock.
I see it every day on my run.
Some days it makes me smile.
Other times my eyes may just get a little misty.
And then…some days….there’s an unstoppable floodgate of tears.
Why???
Because this rock isn’t only a place where we took a picture 10 years ago memorializing a family unit that once was.
But it also symbolizes the very foundation upon which our family was built. And when Wayne died, “the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:25)
God was and continues to be my mighty rock, my refuge and “His works are perfect, and all his ways are just.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Yes, ALL, every.single.one. of His ways are just….even the ones we don’t understand.
So whenever I run past this big rock, it’s a tangible, touchable reminder of God’s goodness in my life — and not just the goodness of sweet times when building our little family and taking a picture for a Christmas card, but also hard, painful times when our family was shattered into a million pieces. He remains steadfast and is our firm foundation throughout all the seasons.
