ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER©

When you reach my age, you find yourself more isolated from those around you. You long to talk to and be with old friends. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with two of my high school friends from over 65 years ago. It’s so special to be with friends you grew up with. It’s like putting on a pair of old shoes that fit just right. We shared stories from the past. We talked about how those years progressed and got away from us. Life becomes so busy – so full of living – that we lose track of each other, especially when miles separate us. It seems that the years have not changed us that much. Of course, our bodies are in different shapes than they were, but the things we learned in those younger years have stayed with us. The foundation that our parents laid through God’s strengthening Word has remained a part of us for all this time. These two, along with Paul and me, were two sets of many in our graduating class that married. We went to a Christian high school where we learned more about God’s plan for us and our futures. I’m not sure how many couples there were, but all of them had long relationships with each other and the LORD. We can still look at death without fear, because of those early lessons we learned. God has prepared a place for each of us in His heavenly home, and we can count on a future that includes seeing them again in paradise. While we wait, we can continue on – even through times of difficulty – here on earth.

Life gets complicated,
Torrents of troubles rain upon us,
This brief time on earth is a mere whisper,
How do we withstand the storms,
How do we live through them,
How do we survive,
When life ebbs slowly away from us,
When friends and family pass away,
When financial worries overcome us,
When health issues surmount,
When it seems there is no end,
How do we survive,
We struggle to succeed,
Only to be battered down,
We strive to accomplish great deeds,
Only to be ridiculed,
We wonder how we fit into a world gone crazy,
How do we survive,
We’re amazed at the state of our youth,
We worry about the state of our churches and schools,
We fret over man’s inhumanity to man,
We mourn for the children of the world,
How do we survive,
God has a plan,
We know He is perfect,
He always delivers,
He won’t let us down,
Be still,
Know that He is God,
We will survive.