Making sense of it all

By just about any measure, this past year was the most difficult and challenging of my life. It started in January with my divorce, one I never asked for or wanted. In March, my company (Volvo) announced it would be closing our Asheville offices, necessitating a future move to Pennsylvania, and with it came issues of custody and concern for my youngest daughter. April brought the passing of my 98 year-old Grandmother, an amazing woman who helped raise me and instill faith early on in my life. In June, my brother Erik was shot while being arrested in Connecticut, incarcerated for that next month while our family struggled to deal with the implications and ramifications. Each one of these experiences seems more than enough for one person to bear in any year, but all four playing out in six months just doesn't seem fair. Making sense of it all is an exercise in futility. My entire life I've been someone who takes a disciplined approach to whatever I do - I plan, I prepare, I work hard, I execute, I experience success. It makes sense. Everything goes as planned. I'm fully in control of both the process and the results. But that's been the problem. I've been the one in control, it's always had to make sense to me, and I had come to expect that there wasn't anything I couldn't handle or overcome on my own.

So here's what I've learned as I try to make sense of how my year has played out....Life is not always fair. Life is not always predictable. People will let us down. We are not always in control (as much as we'd like to think or believe). People we love will leave us. Despite our best efforts, we won't always succeed.

But here's what else I've learned this year. God is always fair. God is always predictable. God will never let us down. God is always in control. God will never leave us. With God leading the way, it all works out in the end. And God's perfect plan - despite our flawed efforts - ultimately leads to a life of significance. Truly believing means we never lose faith, hope, or the knowledge that it all makes sense to God. Even when none of it makes sense to us. BELIEVE.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33