All the time in the world to think

I can’t believe my baby is turning 32 on July 3rd and has a baby of his own. Where does the time go? It seems the older you get the faster time flies or maybe it’s just that we fly slower as time ages us. One nice thing about growing older, we have more time to relax and enjoy our memories. We have more time to think about life.

One day my children were small building castles in their sand box, swinging on swings screaming ‘faster, daddy, faster’, wishing on stars and dreaming silly dreams. O, to be a child again when there was no difference between time and any of the three dimensions of space, when you could trust that in time all your problems would work themselves out, when nothing really belonged to us but time – as a child you had all the time in the world and time to enjoy all of the world.

If by chance my son is reading this, I shall leave him with Thomas A Kempis’ rules for living life to think about -- when he has time.

“My son resolve to do the will of others rather than your own.
Always choose to posses less rather than more.
Always take the lowest place, and regard yourself as less than others.
Desire and pray always that God’s will may be perfectly fulfilled in you.
A man who observes these rules shall come to enjoy peace and tranquility of soul.”

You're never to old to learn

My husband and I were blessed to have brunch with our son and his family this Father’s Day. Of course, Little J stole the show. Little J’s parents are going to have so much fun watching their son grow and learn. I still have fond memories of some of the great truths my children have learned over the years, truths like:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They (parents) always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10)The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.


And what I have learned? I've learned that:

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt. (Much)
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

Tomorrow, I hope to visit my father; he’s 95 and still has a thing
or two to teach me. I already know what he’d tell me, go for the gusto, forget the nuts and enjoy the fudge. Don’t worry about the wrinkles – they are merely badges of honor – wear them proudly.

No worries

A week ago today we were celebrating our daughter’s marriage. A lot of work goes into planning a wedding; it seems kind of strange not to still be in that planning stage. The event itself comes and goes; it’s almost a whirlwind of memories in my mind. All the things my daughter and I were anxious over never came to pass. Our worries were in vain. God had everything under control – all in His hands. It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful day for a wedding. God provided everything we needed and more.
I don’t know why I was so anxious over the wedding, I guess I forgot that scripture where Jesus says “Be anxious over nothing.” He provides all we have need of it.

When I think about times spent with Heidi, the best memories that come to mind are those when we did nothing special. We simply talked, walked, laughed, cried and lived life. And now she gets to enjoy these moments with her new husband of doing nothing special – just enjoying one another.

Life is precious folks, its God gift to us – what we do with that life is our gift to God. Make every day count, be anxious about nothing. Let go and let God have his way in your life.