Ava Grace
“God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.” [James M. Barrie]
She was fresh from the womb when first I held her and sensed the awesome love and protection my arms provided, just a few days ago…but time slips by and now two years later we must part. Not through some tragedy or tempest of life beyond one’s control…but because of love. Love of God her parents choose to follow Him. They hear the distant call of frontier lands and missions need in foreign lands—and we must stand and weep and let this Sovereign God have His way.
How sad the parting and yet what joy; our hearts still hold a storehouse of remembrances. Two years of watch care and love of one so small and dependent. How precious the memories become of shopping trips, first snows and mountain rides. Of special prayers she learned to say and songs she loved to sing. Of playing eye to eye upon the floor and listening as the rain splashes against the window pain. Special times, when weary from play, we stood and watched her sleep—smiling now and then perhaps of dreams of games we played or just the wind from mother’s milk.
The echo of her voice still rings..."chase me nana, chase me" as round and round the lawn we go. She turns her head with just a glance to see if I'm still there, safe enough to touch yet far enough for her to slip away. Now she is gone but not so far that memories can’t breach the distance and we give thanks for love that spans the globe and brings her home again.
Without a doubt this season of change runs deeper than anything I could ever imagine. To let go of all familiar things allowing life to softly slip away, no rough edges but like a boat loosed from its moorings floating from the harbor just before dawn, waters smooth and silent the shoreline silently left behind. Not knowing what lies out in the vast emptiness of the ocean and the horizon revealing naught by a thin line of light where shadows barely tiptoe on the water. Saying farewell to yesterday and memories still held fast to the place of their belonging. One day, one moment in the morrow they will return and serve their purpose as part of the joy and sorrows of life. It must be so this shifting of all that life held onto, but quietly Lord empower as I embrace the new and unknown destiny you have ordained.
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