The past several months have been a period of new beginnings for several in our family.

Transition is always difficult for me.  Jim, on the other hand, seems to embrace it.  As we have planned and worked toward making our permanent move to Arkansas, after twenty-five plus years of living in the beautiful state of Georgia, it has been with many mixed emotions.  The move is finally done, and we are settling into somewhat of a routine.  I can’t say it’s all been easy ~ but we are making it, one day at a time.

Recently, our immediate family experienced three separate deaths within the matter of a week.  Our brother lost his wife, the mother of his twenty-year-old daughter, after a lengthy illness.  Our niece and her husband lost her mother-in-law, his mother.  They are only in their early thirties and now will be left without this pillar of strength to draw from.  Then, another of my nephews by marriage lost his uncle to illness.  And I should add that the week before that my brother-in-law’s aunt passed on.  If this were in the old days, we all would be ensconced in black for the next year, or more, to come!

In the midst of all that, we had a nephew get married for the first time.  It was a beautiful wedding, with as many family and friends as could be there; in spite of all the losses we were enduring.

Today, I think about our young couple who are starting out their life together as man and wife.  The adventures and trials they have yet to face; the joys and heartaches that will come.  Interestingly enough, Jim and I just celebrated our 41^st wedding anniversary this last month.  I still remember those first weeks, months, and years of being newly wedded.  It is a precious time of bonding, growing, and learning to know each other.  I wish every young couple could look ahead about forty years, at the start of their new beginning ~ to what is to come . . . it might make things seem somehow simpler and more bearable when the tough times come.  Which they surely do.

And last, but certainly not least, in the mix of all of this, my sister Bonnie helped birth baby goat triplets from her milk goat Gertie.  Yes, we consider our animals as family too, around here at least!

And so, you see, in our family alone, there have been a multitude of new beginnings.  I almost envy the ones who have finished the race here on earth and have begun their eternal life in Glory!  How wonderful that must be, now to be in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to be with other family and friends who have gone on before.  Maybe getting older tends to make us see this type of new beginning as a good thing and not something to be afraid of!

And of course, with new life, such as the beautiful baby goats, or a wedding with a beautiful young couple, there is hope.  Hope for a future with many good things to come.  I look forward to the wonderful goat cheese my sister makes, I look forward to watching the new little kids (goats) with my granddaughters on Easter this year, and I look forward to laughing a little at their new beginnings.

One thing that I have come to know in all of life is this, contentment is a state of mind.  It really doesn’t matter ones circumstances, nor what new beginning may be coming our way, as long as we keep our thoughts, our heart, and our mind focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, and on what He wants for our life, it’ll be alright!