My little girl got her ears pierced today.

It felt like a “rite of passage” of sorts. Like somehow the hole in her ear bridged a gap between the little girl she used to be and the young woman she is becoming. There are times lately when I look at her and the transformation seems to happen in the blink of an eye. I’ll be looking at her and see the little girl I know and then suddenly she’ll catch my eye and take my breath away as the young woman I don’t know yet.

She’s my baby. I think it’ll always be like that with her. Every new achievement is somehow laced with a degree of sadness over what will never be again. It’s all just a little bittersweet.

Life’s full of bittersweet moments.

Like finding out your best friend’s mother has lost her battle with cancer and no longer calls this place her home. She’s in heaven. And we rejoice over that fact. We realize that we can’t even begin to fully grasp the beauty that she is beholding right now. She’s with the one who created her. The one who breathed the very breath of life into her. She is truly at peace. She is truly at home. She is truly alive.

But we are still sad. We are sad because we can’t help but remember the creaking of floorboards under our feet as we scurried across the upstairs floor in our pajamas as little girls. We would race to the bedroom and slam the door shut behind us as we burst out in laughter.  We remember the late night giggles and the “Who do you think is cute?” conversations followed closely by a round of M.A.S.H.  We remember the house in the country that held so many wonderful memories because a mom cared enough to foster that atmosphere. We didn’t know it just then. But we sure do now. We know it because now we are moms. And we understand the care that goes into making a house a home. We understand the intentionality that goes into leaving a legacy of faith with your kids. We understand that sometimes you love your kids’ friends almost as much as your own. And we understand the power behind those relationships.

So today is bittersweet for me.

I am happy for Pat. She is where there is no pain or suffering. She is in the presence of the God of the universe. She is praising her creator and she is complete in His presence. She is where she belongs. But we…we are not. And perhaps that is what makes us feel so bittersweet. 

Psalm 34:8 says, “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see- how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.”

We know he’s good. She left a legacy with her children & grandchildren that testified-to the very end- that God is good. And so even though we are sad, we still see that God is good. And because we know he’s good, because we can trust him, then we are instructed to run to him. What better time to run to him than in the bittersweet moments of life?

We’ve tasted and we’ve seen. And now we are to run.

So today whether you’re experiencing a moment that’s bittersweet or you are in a season of life that is seemingly endlessly bittersweet, I encourage you to run to the one who is good. 

I’m thankful for the legacy of “running to the one who is good” that Pat left behind. I plan on following her example….until we meet again.