Away

Many things in my life have been taken away.  Although there are people that I wish were never taken away, I know that God has used everything to shape me in to the person that I am today.  Their lives, however short or long, touched my life in profound ways.

My best friends from childhood were taken away, one by illness another by tragedy.  I was not prepared for either, but their life continues to impact mine today.  Understand I don't live in the past, but their lives shaped who I am and how I live.  I think of them often, but God was there to comfort me.  I know they are both in a better place and one day I will see them again.

My parents were taken away.  My father to death, my mother to dementia.  Again, I wasn't prepared for either.  I stood in faith that my father would be healed.  When he wasn't healed this side of Heaven, I broke.    With my mom, it is a slow journey, I find myself pulling away, and then feeling guilty because her time here is limited.  God was there to catch me when I fell, and is there as I journey through this with my mother.

Dreams I had have been taken away.  Many have just changed as I have grown in my relationship with God.  He has shown me that He has better things for me than what I thought I wanted.  For every dream I thought was taken away, He replaced it with more than I could ask.

I remember when I walked away.  I admit there are days when things are tough that that thought crosses through my mind, but that away is the only one that I can't find a positive in.  When I walked away from God, my life took me places that although He has used for His glory, were never things He wanted in my life.  As a result of me, walking away from Him