Reason, Season or Lifetime

It is amazing how people can affect your life in different ways. Whether it is the people you are very close to, those you hardly know or one of the many in-between. I am learning that you cannot take any of those relationships for granted and honestly believe none of them are by chance.

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty; to provide you with guidance and support; to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a season, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
— Unknown

Tomorrow I will be attending the service for Leslie Richardson Carman. I am not trying to say Leslie taught me some great life lesson or that in her death something in me was awakened but I couldn't help but think of that poem. All I do know is that my heart aches for the dark place she was in and it breaks for the two sweet girls she left behind. I will think of her in the morning when I get up to run in the dark and I will smile every afternoon when Addie asks for a "poppie". (I credit her with both!)
 
Leslie, I pray that you found peace and that you are able to watch over your hurting family and friends. Lord, give Brian the strength to pick up the pieces and help him find peace so he can begin to heal but mostly I pray for Olivia and Taylor and all the pain and unanswerable questions they have ahead of them.