in a moment

It can all change... this life as we know it... the happiness we feel in our heart... the frustration and sadness that is eating away at you. It can all change... in just a moment. This afternoon I got a phone call... it was one of those that started out with Are you sitting down? A friend from church lost her husband today... just like that. No warning... no good-bye. It is amazing to me that just moments before I was sitting here angry about something or other... and whatever it was simply just doesn't matter anymore. Because someone who is so important to my daughter is hurting so much. Laura sits next to Judy in the choir... and while they are separated by probably fifty years... they are friends. Laura's quirky Hi! on a Sunday morning is all Judy needs to make her Sunday morning bright. And now this woman who has a heart of joy and chocolate chip cookies is so very sad. And it all happened... in an instant.
My own family has suffered such a tragedy... one that can still bring tears to our eyes... sixteen years later. My Uncle... his backyard... a tree. Just thinking it is enough for my eyes to tear up. I remember the day so very clearly... and although the sadness can still prevail... I learned an important lesson that day... I learned that it can all change... in an instant.
The wonderful man I married has a heart for service... and along with that service comes danger. He has fought fires... he has protected our country... and now he enforces the laws. All jobs that could possibly take him from me... in an instant. But on that day... when my Uncle died... I realized that dangerous job or not... only God knows the moment He will call us home. Crossing the street... driving in your car... cutting down a tree in your own backyard... fishing out in the Gulf with your buddies. In an instant, it all could change... and so I do not think about it when Eric walks out the door to work. I can not. For to worry when he goes to work, would also mean that I had to worry each and every time he was out of my sight. I can not live that way. And God does not want us to. He tells us to put it all in His hands... and I do. I have to. Because while our life could change... in an instant... He never will. God will never change. He will be there today, tomorrow, next week, next year... in a hundred years. He will be there... holding us in the palm of His hand.