Friday evening moments of reflection

My heart is aching to be with my Soldier right now.  This is the first weekend we will spend apart, and it is hard getting used to.  I think it is because normally, at 6:00 on Friday evenings, we are rejoicing over the  many moments of togetherness that are just beginning to take shape.  But these moments right now, with Daniel in the woods somewhere, and Tirzah sleeping soundly, I feel a bit lonely.  Yet God is so faithful and good, and I will stand upon those truths and the promises that come from them.  There will be so many firsts in the military: first night apart, first weekend apart, first month apart, first deployment.  With each and every first, as always in life, there are struggles and difficult moments.  And that's ok.  These moments, when knit together with the most tender ones, are what make life so rich and beautiful.  They shape us and mold us and have lasting impacts upon our character.  I guess when we really stop to think about it, we wouldn't want life to be void of them.  Like a mosaic (thanks Miss Druid for the beautiful illustration).  A mosaic is gorgeous to behold.  But how did it become so breathtaking?  By taking a multitude of broken pieces and creating a work of art.  Yet how did these parts become broken?  By a hard moment in the, well, life of what they used to be.  Yet when all these broken pieces are placed together, they make a masterpiece of brokenness.