I thought my first post after my wedding would be different than this one. However, when I think about it with my heart instead of my mind it all seems as yet another sweet gift from my Father. Today is a landmark day. I had to be out of my house by today. In the last eighteen years this will be my tenth move. The house I say goodbye to today is the longest I have lived anywhere. And for the last three years has been a haven for a wounded and hurting soul. I had a beautiful path where I prayed. An office that held my most prized possessions, my keepsakes, my photos of family and friends, books, and my grandaddy’s Bible. But it is all now safely placed in my new home where I will make new memories with my family and just made a pack with my husband (love saying that) that we won’t move again unless it is our dream home. (He has moved as much as me…)

But leaving that house holds no grief for me, because once the shelves were empty, the boxes packed, the accessories removed, it was just a shell. A pretty shell. But a shell no less.

The next loss is far greater. Today I will be laying my sweet Maggie to rest. She is my baby. She is fifteen and a hal, born on Christmas Eve, and was my first married Valentine’s gift. Next to this past Valentine’s she is the best gift I have ever received. She has walked through everything with me. Every heartbreak, every success, every moment of pain, she has been there. She has been there. Letting me cry in her fur and then when I was done she made it clear she wanted me to let her go.

She has never been a lover, but she has always been my girl. When she lost her hearing it took me months to notice because she had always been so ornery she rarely came when I called. She could chase a tennis ball longer than you could throw it. Would jump high enough to pull her rope from a six foot tall man’s back pocket and would let you know what she wanted when she wanted it. Otherwise stay out of her way.

As she aged she became an even onerier old coot. The first time Philly kept her for me he said, “Maggie’s like an old woman who will tell you what to do.” But she so loved her mama. And her mama has so loved her. And today I will tell her goodbye.

Yet in the middle of the pain and goodbyes I still see God’s sweet hand. About two months after I met Philly Maggie began to decline rapidly. And right after he proposed her decline was dramatic. My brother said, “She knew now you would be taken care of and didn’t need her the way you have anymore.” I believe that may be true, though I still ache not to think she will be around.

My mom and I both prayed that nothing would happen to her until God brought someone into my life. And once again, my Father in His detailed love has been far too kind and gracious to me. But I will take it.

The other interesting thought to me is that these are the two final pieces of connection with my past. Both my house and Maggie were tied to the man I once loved and knew. And in one day the final chords will be severed.

I will never cease to be amazed at all of the unsearchable ways of God, but I am grateful for how He is willing to love me so sweetly. Both in His giving and in His taking…There is truly a season for everything.