This passage has helped to guide me in difficult times and to appreciate and celebrate the good times and respect and understand the harder days.   In the last few weeks, I have through my circle of family and friends rejoiced at the most joyous news and been saddened by devastating news.  These are not my stories to share but I’ve cried both happy and sad tears and have reread this passage to give comfort and hope.

At present, our life is in a bit of a transition and we are having to make decisions in a period of uncertainty.  We can’t plan fully as each stage is dependent on a previous step, for someone like me who craves order and security its hard and I’m seriously out of my comfort zone.  However we can’t hide away and are trying to plan for the best outcome for all of our little family.  The reason for the changes is our son’s secondary education, we are seriously needing to consider more specialist schools to meet his needs but living in a small seaside town in a large rural county means that the schools we are looking at are a considerable distance from our home.  However, neither of us feel that it is fair to expect Little Man to travel more than an hour each way for school and are trying to come to a compromise which suits the whole family.  There is no easy solution but we are considering moving inland to a small market town, 30 minutes away which would facilitate the journey.  However, it means giving up our seaside idyll, a life we love and planned for our family, the beach as our playground and being part of a wonderful community.  Its a hard decision.  We are also subject to our son being given place at the school we think is right for him, we know that on average there are 14 applications for each place and having visited a number of other special schools this feels like our only option, it is the best fit.  The change would have less effect on our daughter, catchment areas for the secondary schools are big here and a move would not affect her place at the secondary school she will start in September.

There is so much to consider and it is a situation which cannot be resolved quickly, our timescale is a minimum of about 18 months.  It seems overwhelming and is dominating so much of our thoughts, trying to do the best for everyone.  I need to remember that as in the passage from Ecclesiastes that this time will pass, this is our time to plant the seeds for a safe, happy future for all of us, all that matters is that we are together, secure and loved, no matter where we are.