We are a few weeks away from Kate heading off to college. It’s such a bittersweet season. In one breath I’m excited for what’s to come for her, and in the next breath I think about how she will be home to visit here and there but our family of five will likely never live together again.

I know this is normal and there is nothing wrong or bad about this, it’s just going to be different, and a transition.

This is something many of you have already experienced, yet I admittedly didn’t get it until now. And the compassion and empathy I have for you, and for my mom and mother-in-law, has grown exponentially over the past six months or so. I now see more clearly how special family gatherings are and how sporadic they become.

I share this today as I know I’m not alone in entering this new season with our first child heading off to college, or being someone who is going through a transition. If you can relate, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

May we enter this new chapter with open palms, for it is written, “it is better to have one handful of tranquility than two handfuls with toil and grasping for the wind.” May we not grip what was, or hold the moment too tight, but instead enjoy the moment and open our hearts and palms to God, trusting Him with what is, and what is to come for all of us. He is always beside us, so may we remember to be with Him to help us through and give us perspective in this transitional season.

With love and hope,
Shawn

It is better to have one handful of tranquility than two handfuls with toil and grasping for the wind. -Ecclesiastes 4:6