Most days flow from one to another – increasingly quickly. Events are planned, details written on the kitchen calendar, but yesterday… We’d suggested it a year ago, we’d talked about it through the year, we’d planned dates, bought tickets… Yesterday was different.
We got up early, checked we’d remembered everything. Daughter-Jo took us to the train-station… Train from Lowestoft to Norwich, Norwich to London, underground across London. The morning spent on a train? That’s different.
We arrived at St Pancras early, bought some lunch, went through customs and waited. Waiting patiently and doing nothing? That’s different.
Eurostar brought us to France… The French speak a different language, have different customs and traditions, drive on the wrong side of the road, support a different national football team… That’s different!
We arrived at a different house, had different conversations, slept in different beds…
I’m a man of habit. I like structure and routine. I enjoy the patterns and predictability of life. As I get older my aging body and mind aren’t always comfortable with ‘different’, Yesterday everything was different…
There’s different sorts of different…
There’s good different… watching the growing maturity of our grandchildren, the changing colours of autumn, a friend’s health after successful surgery…
There’s bad different… The relationship that breaks down, the unexpected bereavement, the unwelcome bill that arrives…
There’s planned different and unplanned different, constructive different and destructive different, funny different and sad different…
We’re staying with my sister-in-law Geneviève, just outside Paris. Last time we stayed here my brother Chris was here too. Since he died last year life’s been different. Different for Genevieve, different for the family… It’s different without him.
This morning I read, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.’ This morning I’m grateful for those things that aren’t different… for loving family relationships, for the God who brings me His hope, joy and peace… for my brother Chris who would always point me to that God.
malcolmsmusings.org 
I also thank God for the things that are not different, Malcolm. This is a healthy perspective. I hope you are refreshed by your visit to Paris.
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Thank you, David. It is good to accept and appreciate God’s presence and plan – even if we don’t always understand it.
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Malcom, thank you for sharing. I will be praying specifically for your trip. Like you, I can be a creature of habit; although so much in my life is so different. I’m so thankful for the unchanging God we serve! I’m sorry for your loss; and am comforted in how you find comfort and truth. May your trip be filled with joy, love, fun, and good health! Many prayers and blessings. I imagine traveling to where you all are one day. I imagine the beauty!
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Thank you, Karla, for your kind thoughts and good wishes. I’m so grateful for the parts of life that are changing, and those important parts that are unchanging. Life is never what we expect it to be, and we continue to thank God for each today, and trust Him for each tomorrow.
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You’re welcome, Malcolm. Amen to your wise words!
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I’m so sorry you lost your brother Chris. That would not be an easy “different” to get used to. I do hope you enjoy your visit with your sister-in-law. I’m sure she appreciates the “different” of you visiting her. 🙂
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Thank you for your kind words, Nancy. The difficult ‘different’s are part of life… It’s the Job story – the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
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