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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. ~ Robert Frost
"Slow down, you move too fast, you've got to make the moment last..."
These last few days have made me very thoughtful about life and how quickly it passes. I really do resonate with the Robert Frost quote in my title. Life, "it goes on".
On Friday my youngest daughter turned 17. I know, I have a lot of kids and they have birthdays...every year. But this one did something to me. It brought me to a new reality. I think it was because not only did she turn 17 and she is my youngest girl. But I saw my youngest two boys (the twins) interacting with her friends (who are their friends). The boys were not just the little siblings, but part of the group. On Friday evening we had about 17+ teenagers here for pizza and birthday celebration. Fun time for all. But at one point I looked around and saw not what was, but what used to be. We no longer have little kids. NONE, not a single "little one". We (Dwight and I) have been invaded by 'big people' and seriously, most are bigger than Dwight and I. :)
In reality, this was a fun birthday for Anna and for me as her Mom. However, it made me reflect. Yes, this blog is about reflection. I can not believe how fast we got here. It is like we went from birth to big kids. Or went from babies to almost adults or even adults, all in a 'blink'. Of course, I feel old at times but also I feel the same age as when it all started. I guess God is good to do that to us parents. We just 'do the thing'. We invest time in the lives of these gifts we are given. But we loose track of the time which is passing so quickly. We just wake up morning after morning and do life with the fam. We go from infancy to 'now' using the skills, advice, mess-ups, day-to-day stuff and the grace of God and we 'do the thing' that needs to be done to raise a family.
Anna, the daughter who celebrated 17 on Friday, also played her last soccer game on Saturday for the 2012 season. They had an amazing go at it...16 games played and 1 loss, which was their last game played in the 2nd round of State Playoffs. We are very proud of her and the team. She and I were chatting on the way home and yes, reflecting. This "time investment" thing came up in our conversation. She mentioned feeling a since of loss now the season is over. She knows there will be a void for a while. All summer she physically trained and conditioned herself. Then in early August, practices began in earnest, camps, daily doubles, etc. The season began in early September. Now, almost five months from her onset of conditioning, soccer is over. It is done, gone, until next year...
This caused me to continue my reflections about how life, "it goes on". It goes on for Anna. She, Lord willing, will live another year and celebrate 18. There will be another soccer season. My college kids will graduate, my 'babies' will finish their high school careers. Heck, I may even have grandchildren one day! Life moves at an incredible rate. I think what these last few days and events did to me was cause me to ask myself again, "Am I making every moment count?"
In James 4:13-15 it reads, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just like a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that'." I grew up with my Daddy always saying to us, "If the Lord wills or Lord willing, baby." As a kid I did not grasp the true meaning. Now as an adult and a parent, I totally get it! Ha! Thanks Daddy! We can not predict next year or even tomorrow. All we have is today! So, again I am asking myself in light of life changing in a 'blink' how can I make every moment count?
I am here to say, I struggle with this! We are such busy society and I am a 'do-er'. I struggle with slowing down, treasuring the moment, realizing I have only today and making today count! Lord help! I have a good heart motive but pile on the busyness of life and it sucks out the moment-by-moment treasures. God is refining me, showing me His purposes, His will. Praise God for His process. I desire to do all for 'the glory of God' and to always know in my heart that He gives us each day, each moment, as a gift to us to treasure with those we love and share His gift of the gospel to the lost world around us. However, still in process. :-/
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31
Whatever each day brings, the joys and the sorrows...the Lord says to "rejoice and be glad in it"! It is easier said than done, but I am going to be more about this business. For His glory, not my own. :)
"This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
~ Life; it goes on
These last few days have made me very thoughtful about life and how quickly it passes. I really do resonate with the Robert Frost quote in my title. Life, "it goes on".
On Friday my youngest daughter turned 17. I know, I have a lot of kids and they have birthdays...every year. But this one did something to me. It brought me to a new reality. I think it was because not only did she turn 17 and she is my youngest girl. But I saw my youngest two boys (the twins) interacting with her friends (who are their friends). The boys were not just the little siblings, but part of the group. On Friday evening we had about 17+ teenagers here for pizza and birthday celebration. Fun time for all. But at one point I looked around and saw not what was, but what used to be. We no longer have little kids. NONE, not a single "little one". We (Dwight and I) have been invaded by 'big people' and seriously, most are bigger than Dwight and I. :)
In reality, this was a fun birthday for Anna and for me as her Mom. However, it made me reflect. Yes, this blog is about reflection. I can not believe how fast we got here. It is like we went from birth to big kids. Or went from babies to almost adults or even adults, all in a 'blink'. Of course, I feel old at times but also I feel the same age as when it all started. I guess God is good to do that to us parents. We just 'do the thing'. We invest time in the lives of these gifts we are given. But we loose track of the time which is passing so quickly. We just wake up morning after morning and do life with the fam. We go from infancy to 'now' using the skills, advice, mess-ups, day-to-day stuff and the grace of God and we 'do the thing' that needs to be done to raise a family.
Anna, the daughter who celebrated 17 on Friday, also played her last soccer game on Saturday for the 2012 season. They had an amazing go at it...16 games played and 1 loss, which was their last game played in the 2nd round of State Playoffs. We are very proud of her and the team. She and I were chatting on the way home and yes, reflecting. This "time investment" thing came up in our conversation. She mentioned feeling a since of loss now the season is over. She knows there will be a void for a while. All summer she physically trained and conditioned herself. Then in early August, practices began in earnest, camps, daily doubles, etc. The season began in early September. Now, almost five months from her onset of conditioning, soccer is over. It is done, gone, until next year...
This caused me to continue my reflections about how life, "it goes on". It goes on for Anna. She, Lord willing, will live another year and celebrate 18. There will be another soccer season. My college kids will graduate, my 'babies' will finish their high school careers. Heck, I may even have grandchildren one day! Life moves at an incredible rate. I think what these last few days and events did to me was cause me to ask myself again, "Am I making every moment count?"
In James 4:13-15 it reads, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just like a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that'." I grew up with my Daddy always saying to us, "If the Lord wills or Lord willing, baby." As a kid I did not grasp the true meaning. Now as an adult and a parent, I totally get it! Ha! Thanks Daddy! We can not predict next year or even tomorrow. All we have is today! So, again I am asking myself in light of life changing in a 'blink' how can I make every moment count?
I am here to say, I struggle with this! We are such busy society and I am a 'do-er'. I struggle with slowing down, treasuring the moment, realizing I have only today and making today count! Lord help! I have a good heart motive but pile on the busyness of life and it sucks out the moment-by-moment treasures. God is refining me, showing me His purposes, His will. Praise God for His process. I desire to do all for 'the glory of God' and to always know in my heart that He gives us each day, each moment, as a gift to us to treasure with those we love and share His gift of the gospel to the lost world around us. However, still in process. :-/
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31
Whatever each day brings, the joys and the sorrows...the Lord says to "rejoice and be glad in it"! It is easier said than done, but I am going to be more about this business. For His glory, not my own. :)
"This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
~ Life; it goes on
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