We returned from our two weeks visit in Texas to a very different life. The couple who had been our close friends since we arrived in Beijing a year ago is gone. We can see them on Facebook and plan on visiting in the future, but our life here has changed. Susan said, “I felt sad when I saw the door of the apartment where they used to live.” The Chinese decoration that used to hang on their door is gone and so are they.
Our Filipino Pastor and his wife (also our friends) left Beijing not that long ago and we haven’t gotten used to them being gone. Just a few months before that, Susan’s Filipina friend moved back to the US, leaving her with too much time on her hands. It is hard for her to find friends that don’t work. Susan declared “I won’t make any new friends, because it is too hard when they leave.”
I have an electronic picture frame near my computer, and I often find myself staring at the pictures of our grandchildren that show up one by one. I haven’t added newer pictures, because I enjoy looking back. Though they are similar, those aren’t the same children we spent time with. They have changed! The pictures show babies, toddlers and little kids that we will never see again. I love the way the children have grown and matured, but I also miss them the way they were when we took those pictures. Besides that, the pictures don’t get into trouble, need to be fed, or need diapers changed.
Susan and I have also changed a lot. Our pictures show I have more wrinkles, added some weight and have less hair than before. Susan has a little more gray in her hair, a bigger smile on her face, and is either traveling around the world, or is surrounded by more grandchildren as the years have passed. Our pictures have changed from things and places, to more of the family, friends and loved ones that make up our life.
One thing hasn’t changed. “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) He won’t leave us, and we won’t need to find another Savior. He wasn’t better in the past and won’t be better in the future. He is perfect and won’t change. God has a perfect solution for all the world’s problems, “He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Wayne Lance (2015) – That’s Good News to Share!