Thriving...in Spite of It

Recently, while threading a needle to sew a button back on my husband's shirt* (see footnote below) , I had to laugh for just a moment. With my daughter finishing her freshman year in college, and my son on the verge of marriage, I've become increasingly convinced that life is flying by so quickly. It seems such a short time ago that I was a teenager, too, trying to figure everything out. As I sat in my designated chair, squinting to thread the needle, it occurred to me that I was in a moment that could be a meme: Threading a needle at 15 -- "Lord, please don't let me stick myself with this needle!" Threading a needle at 45 -- "Lord, please help me thread this needle!" When we first venture into life, unaware, uninformed, and unspoiled, our challenges and concerns are all wrapped up in one possible end-of-the-world scenario after another. With so little experience and so much passion, how could we help but feel that way? In our immaturity, with all