Before - Deuring - After

I am a big fan of blogging

I think it is a really great idea.

But I am not very good at blogging myself.

I'm just too busy living life to sit down and put thoughts to the keyboard.

I was inspired my sister in law's
before and after project post
and thought,
"I could do that!"

We've had our house for sale all summer with hopes to buy
a fixer-upper in town.

My big plan was to blog as we renovated.

It was a genius plan with an even more genius title--

Before -- Deuring -- After

But here is the problem...

we are still here

We haven't moved on 

No projects have been started yet

We're not even close to starting.

----------------------------

But this week our family has been preparing
for a different move

and my heart has been thinking about another

Before -- Deuring -- After

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I have to say, we had a really great

Before

 I married the most patient, kind, loving guy on earth.

We enjoyed our before time together a lot!

It was filled with love, laughter, and joy.

Even in the middle of great sorrow

Our before was packed full of 

Love
----------------------------

But then it was time for a whole new thing...
 We began a whole new family

A whole new way of being

a beautiful, fun, hard work way of living 

We moved into a new phase of life

---------------------------------

the Deuring

---------------------------------

Where love multiplied

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So I know that sending one child off to college 

doesn't put us in the After just yet

But it does make me stop to wonder...

I'm starting to listen for whispers of what

the after might look like

What will their careers be? 

Will they marry? 

Will we have grandchildren? 

Will they live near or far? 

Will they be happy?
Will they visit much?

So many things to wonder about.

So many things I could choose to worry about.

It would be so easy to simply sit and grieve the passing of time.

----------------------

The other day 

Mikaela was talking to my sister

who said, 

"Just be sure to stay close to home."

And Mikaela playfully asked,

"But what if God calls me to Turkey?"

Without pause, the answer,

"then Go!"

And that made me think

As much as I'd like to hand pick our  

After

I know that my parent joy is going

to feel empty 

until they are living the lives

that God created them for.

So I'm going to choose not to worry.

I'm going to choose to 

continue to enjoy the 

Deuring

I'm going to encourage and support and love their

Becoming

I'm going to trust

God 

(who loves them more deeply and more perfectly than I ever could)

knowing that He has a plan

for our After

that is more beautiful than any I could imagine
I'm going to choose to be grateful

and may all the praise be to Him

-------------------------------- 

No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.