~for when the time comes for a change~

It's the early morning hours here along the Red River, and save for the whirring of the fan in the living room there is not a sound to be heard except for the clicking of the computer keys as I write these words.  Used to be that Sally the Dog would wake up when I did, doing her best to coincide her early morning bathroom break with mine.  I'd take care of my own business while Sally took care of hers.  By the back door I would wait for her until I saw her coming to greet me.  She'd wait patiently for her treat by the washer and after she got it, would promptly head back to the floor by Mike's side of the bed and return to sleep.

We lost little Sally several weeks back now to the effects of old age.

Life changed around here.

There has been so much change for me in the last 5 years since Mike and I got married in May of 2013.  At first the differences were pretty unsettling and ones that I wasn't sure I could get through.  For a Kansas girl to be ripped by the roots from the prairie of the Sunflower State and transplanted into the mountains of southwestern Colorado was quite a shock.  Homesickness and extreme loneliness nearly got to me and many days I wondered what on earth I had done by leaving my home of well over 50 years.  I liken my first 4 months there to the way my geraniums look when I transplant them into new containers during the 100 degree  heat of a midsummer's day.

Wilted.

But that changed too.

I grew to love my 2 year's time in the mountains and a new life with Mike.  It took a community called Olathe, Colorado to save me, but they did just that.  My teaching position for two years in that rural town just 10 miles north or so of our home in Montrose was the very best thing for me.  It was great medicine for my lonely spirit, and as long as I live I will remember them for that.  When the time came to leave in May of 2015 for a new life here along the plains of Texas, it was with sadness that I bid a farewell to them.  One thing I have learned from the experience was this.

God puts people where He needs them to be.  Those two years were my time to teach there, and the relationships that were made were done so for a purpose.  There was a reason for it all.

And so now here we are in northern Texas, only 5 hours south of the place where it all started for me so very long ago now.  Change has followed us here as well.  People that we have loved with all of our hearts are now gone, folks who were some of the very reasons that we chose to move to this part of the world to begin with.  As for me, I have taught for 3 different school districts since we arrived here 3 years ago.  Although I was able to teach many children and grow to know and love their families at Petrolia, Texas and Randlett, Oklahoma, those two schools were not the ones that God intended for me to remain at.  Once a very good friend of mine told me something that I won't forget.  Her words actually explain how I was feeling about the constant moving of classrooms for 3 years' time.

"Peggy, it's like God intends to use you in a whole lot of places.  He sees where the need is and sends you there.  You might only be needed for a year and then He will send you on to the next place."

And actually I have grown to believe that is just the case.

I have written about change many times over the course of this blog's inception back in May of 2011.  Today in this the 1,218th post that I have made, I write of it once again.  You know, I don't think I ever really considered all that much before now just how much life has to change in order to get to where you are going before your time on earth comes to its completion.  Always before, I just kind of went along for the ride.  Now in the summer before my 63rd year, it looks me square in the eyes and reminds me every day that I'm not in charge of things.  

Thankfully, someone much wiser and way more omnipotent than I will ever pretend to be takes care of that.  Nothing is a random act of this crazy universe we live in.  It's all planned out, and when we take the time to open our eyes and hearts to see it, life gets a whole lot easier.

It's very heartwarming to realize how people are put into your lives at just the right moments of time, folks just like our dear friends LeRoy and Anne.  I took care of Anne's mother when I was working as a CNA back in Kansas.  They became my friends and it was LeRoy who walked me down the aisle and gave me away when Mike and I were married in 2013.  They are such good people, ones who have saved us from ourselves at least once since then.  

Back in Montrose, we used to take daily walks near our home just outside of the city limits.  Once when we were walking, Mike made friends with this beautiful horse who acted like he was going to just come on home with us.  Mike has a gentle spirit and is good with people and animals alike.  The last 5 years since we were married have been fraught with change, both good and bad.  We have made it through some tough times because of one thing we promised each other to do.

We stick together.

These dear children called me "teacher" last year at Grandfield and even though I will sorely miss them, it was the time for them to go on to 3rd grade in just a couple of months more.  Change is inevitable but I'm grateful, truly so, that I get to return there for this upcoming school year.  I believe it is where I was destined to be.