Never Alone

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you.

Isaiah 43:2a (CEB)

     I found the time immediately following my retirement from pastoring a local church to be particularly challenging. My husband, Kim, and I had long-planned to move from our home in Iowa to the Atlanta, GA area to be close to our two sons and our two grandsons. We purchased a small, but newly renovated home during the month before my retirement so that it would be ready for us when we were ready for it.

     Yet, in spite of all my careful planning, outside circumstances continued to complicate the smooth transition I had envisioned.  Shortly before our move, my younger brother, Steve, was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to his liver. About the same time, my 93-yr-old Dad, who lived by himself in a four-bedroom house, began to show increasing signs of memory problems. Steve and Dad both lived in Orlando, and we were anxious to get settled in Georgia so that we could be of help to both of them.

     However, their needs could not wait, and our movers took nearly six weeks to deliver our belongings.  In the first two months after our move, Kim and made three trips to Orlando that lasted nearly three weeks.  My brother passed away, my Dad had to move in with his sister, and we kept returning to Georgia to mow the lawn and pick up the mail. Through it all, God continued to remind me that I was loved and cared for just as much during the times I found to be challenging as during the times of joyous celebration.