It's official. My daughter has moved to college. Her room seems empty. My heart's a little empty. And yet...I can't help but be excited for the adventure. Sure it's scary to see her standing with her toes on the precipice of her future, but I can almost see the adrenaline rushing through her as she jumps...This is what I've been preparing for the past 18 years. So while it's the end of her childhood and sharing the same house, it also means we reached a goal, together. Milestones of life are the point where endings and beginnings intersect, a collision site of strong emotions. The birth of a child, first day of kindergarten, first loss of a tooth, first date, graduation, college, new job. Each new beginning is dependent on an ending.
Think about your life. Do you remember a time you were particularly excited about something new? What had to end or what did you have to give up in order to pursue that something?
What about a time when something in your life ended? A relationship, job, school. Looking back, can you see what new beginnings grew from the ending?
Celebrate the intersections. Allow joy to grow out of your sadness. Watch for opportunities to emerge from your pain. Let beauty bloom through the ashes. (And have a box of tissues available at all times.)
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. - Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)
