Families are Forever

Just wanted to share some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for a while. My parents shop caught on fire last week and everything that was inside now sits in ashes. Devastating doesn't even begin to describe the loss. All my dad's tools, motorbikes, chainsaws, my brother's (who is taking over for my dad) tires, farm equipment.....just gone. They think it was a battery charger that caused the fire. No one was injured thank goodness, but it is like losing a home. Home to memories (at least we still have those), home to old things becoming like new through repairs, home to creative ideas, home to my childhood playground, home to the place where I used to sit for hours and watch my dad work, home to where I would smear grease on my hands just so they would look like my dad's, home to where I broke a light and was too scared to tell anyone, home to a way of life, home to....so. many. things. And that's just it. Things. This has been a hard pill to swallow. My parents and family are troopers though and somehow they will get through this. Perhaps, one day, they will be able to see some unexpected blessings through it all as well. After all, "God doesn't give you what you can handle. He helps you handle what you are given." I am grateful for all those who have helped my family with cleanup. Sometimes bad things happen so we can remember that there is still goodness in the hearts of people, especially through the midst of the chaos that seems to be our world today. I have also been reminded of the thing that matters most. FAMILY. Because that's one of the only things that lasts beyond this earthly state. And I thank my Father in Heaven every day that it does.

What Lasts?

Ice cream melts, Flowers wilt,
The leaves of autumn fall.
Sunsets fade, Seasons change,
And children don’t stay small.
Balloons pop, Snowfalls stop—
Do summers last? Never!
Weekends fly, Today will die,
But … Families are forever!

Carpools come and money goes,
New fads they seem so strange.
Trials end and more begin,
But we learn to rearrange.
We catch a cold and we grow old,
But storms of life we weather,
Because we understand the plan,
That FAMILILIES ARE FOREVER.

 By: Rachelle F.A. Dow & DeAnne Flynn

I would also add that:

Shops may come 

and shops my go, 

but FAMILIES ARE FOREVER.