And this too, shall pass!

So, when TIME isn’t flying, I do remind myself, “And this too shall pass!”

My dad would say this to me as I was growing up. It was usually said at a cross-roads or difficult time in my life. During a struggle or painful event of some sort.
I have done a little searching as to where the quote came from. I always thought it was biblical. Apparently not! The closest I could find is... 

2 Corinthians 4: 17-18 New Living Translation (NLT)  17 “ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

This definitely follows along with what my dad was guiding me towards…the things we see today will soon be gone. For me, there is great solace in knowing “this too shall pass!” There will be better days ahead. It isn’t what we are handed in life, it is what we do with what is in our hand. And sometimes what is happening to us will generate a bigger and better self for something we will need in our future.

As preacher’s kids, we moved a lot. The longest period of time we stayed in one town was a few years. I remember moving from Texas to Oregon. It was a painful time in my eleven-year-old life. I left my friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandparents, and even my dog. I did not want to move, to leave. Though I had moved before, this was different. The distance was over-whelming. No more visiting my grandparents on long weekends.

Saying good-bye to my dog was hard even though I knew she was staying with my
loving grandparents. It was a devastating time in my young life. It had been explained why we were moving. It was a positive decision for the adults in my home. There were many things to look forward to, new town, new friends, new environment. I understood all the reasons why, there was some excitement, the loss was greater.

I remember being extremely thankful for my brother and sister, I knew someone
with similar feelings and fear. I knew we had each other and would support each other.

We made the move, we survived! I look back now and am very thankful for the
experience. I ended up being blessed to spend summers with my grandparents rather than a weekend here and there. I did make new – life-long friendships. I have wonderful memories! I learned a lot about myself and as we moved again and again, I took those life lessons with me. These experiences have created my go with the flow attitude. I rely on this attitude on a regular basis!

The pain did pass, I was blessed through the experience, and then there were more
struggles and painful experiences along with many happy memories! There is a vast degree of difficulties and struggles which we and our loved ones will experience in our life time. I have friends, family, and acquaintances struggle through addiction, cancer, loss of a child. I have had moments when I thought I would not get through “it”. I have endured great loss. Great loss and pain may still be in the future.

I have learned…
TIME does heal.
TIME does have the ability to leave scars.
TIME allows for learning.
TIME allows love!