Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 48 - Sisters and Photographs

Greg and Susan stood under an umbrella on the front walk in front of their cottage, deep in an embrace long after their friends, the Wilsons, drove away on Thanksgiving Day. When his wife clung to him for more than a moment, Greg studied her with a questioning gaze.

"So many things have changed since last year," Susan told him as she held him a little bit tighter with the drizzling rain coming down around them.

"Things change every year," Greg said.

"I know they do ... but just since last December ... things have changed a lot, Greg," Susan lamented, loosening her arms around him just a little.

"I know what you mean," Greg said. "We've lost both your parents in the past thirteen months, but we've also welcomed two new children into our midst: Olivia and Payton."

Susan nodded. "It feels a little like out with the old, in with the new."

"I doubt the Lord sees it that way," Greg told her.

"No, I know that's true," Susan told him releasing him from her embrace. "But I can't help wondering; who's next, Greg? Our friends are going back to that dangerous area of the world you and I barely escaped from," Susan said.

Greg arched his brow at his wife. "John and Karen managed to do a lot of good while they were in St. Augustine's. If that is where the Lord sends them, I'm sure they will be a blessing to His service. And the Lord will protect them, Susan. He will go with them, wherever they go, until he calls them home."

"Exactly," Susan said. "Given where they are going, I'm afraid that will come sooner than I'd like it to be."

"We must trust that the Lord has a plan for them," Greg reminded her. "What He asks of us isn't always easy. It isn't always safe; and sometimes our place is to simply watch the Lord's plan unfold for others in exactly that way."

"Like it is with Melody," Susan said.

"Like what is with Melody?" Greg said with a start.

"We know she has a place in God's plan. We know she is here with a job to do ... and yet she was born to us with a disability and a weak heart ... something that doesn't give her much time to do the things she has to do," Susan said.

"Something that became very apparent to us last January," Greg reminded her.

"Yes. We wondered then if the Lord would take her ... but He answered our prayers and gave us more time. Now I find He is doing the same thing with John and Karen ... He has a plan for them which puts them in danger ... which puts them in a place where they could be taken from this Earth at any time. I know we have a few more years before He does that, but I can't help thinking about it," Susan said.

"Who's to say who we will lose in future years?" Greg asked her.

"I'm not saying we will ... but we could," Susan said.

"We could, but we can't live our lives in anticipation of who we think we might die and who we believe will not. If this past year has taught us anything, it is that we must accept we could lose people we love due to events we can't predict; while at the same time, the Lord may safeguard the lives of those we deem more fragile, granting us more time for those whose loss we can anticipate, but can't be sure of."

Susan looked at him with a questioning expression. "Are you thinking of Mom and Melody?"

"And John and Karen. Think of it, Susan. John and Karen survived living in St. Augustine's before," Greg reminded her. "So did we."

"We did ... but so many people didn't," Susan reminded him.

"Yes," Greg said. "But even then, the lives of those who were lost are in His hands. The Lord chose to spare John and Karen before ... and us too. He protected them. It is entirely possible He will again ... and John knows to be more cautious this time. I feel certain he will be much more careful about who he tells what than he was before."