Just around the corner...

                             
                     "No matter what... 
                I want to choose  gratitude!"

The seasons in Spokane are changing and a glorious fall is
upon us. After a summer of nourishing and babying our plants and flowers, and spending countless hours of enjoyment in our garden, our gardens are being remodeled by Spokane's cooler weather. The breath taking colors of autumn, that were just around the corner, are now replacing the vivid red geraniums and yellow daffodils. Lush trees, with leaves of green, in an instant are changing to reds and golds.The leaves are cascading down, twirling in all their glory as if to say, "My job is done and a new season is almost upon us."

My word for 2018 is transformation and autumn is a perfect time to see God's transforming powers, right before my very eyes.

Life right now resembles those trees and leaves. Autumn, in a flash, is right here right now. Some enormous and transforming changes are coming with this new season. Some of the changes hurt my heart, others are exciting and challenging. Each one is a chance to choose fear or to choose gratitude. 

               No matter what this Autumn season brings, 
                    even when it is really hard to do, 
                        I want to choose gratitude!

Last night I received a message that I knew was coming, yet I dreaded it completely. I knew that Rick Westra would let us all know when our beloved Vicky had at last gone Home to God. 
Rick's message said Vicky was now in God's hands. 

During the night, through tears and more tears, I kept replaying 
and remembering my friendship with Vicky, one of the most meaningful friendships I have ever had. This morning, after getting me a cup of coffee, my dear husband, Bert, asked me (with his counselor hat on just a bit)..."Honey, what will you miss most about Vicky ?"

We then spent about an hour talking about what makes some friendships a "deep friendship," the kind of friendship that gets to a new level of authenticity and transparency. The kind of friendship
where you feel truly seen and heard and deeply loved. That's the kind of friendship I had with Vicky. I loved her, just as she was, and appreciated SO much about how she lived her life. I guess I might call her a friend who was always grateful. Even in the midst of a seven year battle with stage IV breast cancer, Vicky was grateful for even the smallest of joys...a flower peeking through the concrete sidewalk, the color of a beautiful sky, the gorgeous red and yellow and orange colors of Autumn leaves.

After my coffee and talk with Bert, I got up and looked out the window to see huge, gorgeous trees with deep yellow leaves, the sunshine coming through them, making them almost iridescent.  
Then one lone leaf started its slow-motion twirling flight to the ground.

It so reminded me of Vicky as I looked at that leaf,  cascading to its resting place. It's job on the tree, now complete. Yet it would become part of the dirt below, still here, yet not so visible to the naked eye. That leaf had a new job...to nourish the tree. It wouldn't be visible in quite the same way, yet it would still be here.

That moment of seeing that leaf transform,  reminded me that my dear friend, Vicky was right. Just as her poem said she would be right around the corner, no longer visible in quite the same way, but present none the less. All was well for the leaf and "all is well!" for my precious soul sis.

I feel so grateful to God to have known Vicky, to have been her friend. I am so grateful for the other precious friendships I have made because we all loved Vicky. My dear friend Jackie and another soul sis, Peggy, are grieving too. We all miss Vicky, but are so glad she is safe and whole in God's arms.  

So I am choosing gratitude this morning, mixed with tears of missing and loving. I am remembering, as Vicky shared in her poem, that she is not gone, but just around the corner. I am thanking God for the honor of being Vicky's friend.

As I face other challenges and joys coming up this fall, I will carry Vicky in my heart. Her life-lessons about choosing gratitude are life-changing. This morning I am thanking God for bringing my dear "soul sis" into my life. 

God Bless!
Love, Linda