The Circle of Life Reminder

There is a quilt on our family room wall that was made as a group effort by my quilting friends and myself many years ago. While quite attractive, it may appear a bit "dated" to our guests. I keep it hanging, though, as a reminder of the circle of life. Birds sing, vines grow, love is present and we have abundance. However, the quilt does not depict the other side...those birds' songs grow quiet with age, vines wither, love can be painful as we see those we love with disease and eventually passing on, and abundance is not for all with world hunger and catastrophies.

January has been a month full of contrasts thus far in the circle of life. There have been birthday celebrations...

the birth of our Ellie... and the joyous celebration of Petey and Anne as they are happily-ever-after married.

And now we arrive at the flip side of joy...the painful, unfair, scary, and unknown circle of life side. News that Peder is terribly sick and facing another cancer site - and he's the age of our son John. News that a father of four young children in Minnesota has lost his life battle, news that a beloved Mother-in- Law to Melissa has passed away in Pennsylvania, news that a friend has had a serious car accident, news that Anne's friend is having difficulty carrying her twins, news that the search for survivors in Haiti is now officially ended.

I try to be one who looks towards the bright side of life, but today I feel sad for the dear ones who are having the walk through darkness. I pray for you, and it is my hope that the circle of life will soon bring the good stuff back...it's there but has a timeline all of its own.