The Days Are Long & The Years Are Short

Today I recalled something I heard a couple of years ago about the busy times when you're parenting (or grand-parenting) and hustling through life.  It went something like this:  "The days are long, but the years are short."  

That's one of the truest things I've ever heard, and some days it's truer than truest.  Right now Merideth and I are in the midst of the blur of moving three times in just under a year, kids' school and social activities, work and everything else in life.  

We have gone from one big decision to another more times than I can count this past year.  It's easy to look back and wonder where the time went, how we got here, and to focus only on those big moments, the huge things that marked our time. 

But sometimes we can miss out on the glory of God, the beauty of God's will and the joy and peace that comes from simply being fully present in the every day moments, the ordinary times---when we practice being still and know that God is God, and we are not.  


Recently, I read something Frederick Buechener wrote about those kinds of ordinary moments of glory when he reflected on the busy years of his life.  He said, "...it was the unmemorable, the apparently random and everyday ones that turned out to be the key moments."   

The other day--right in the middle of the week---we took our whole family to a park near our house where there is a wonderful little creek--just deep enough to wade in, throw rocks into or fall in fully clothed (which happened to at least one of us).  

We sat by the water, talking, laughing and then stretched out in the sun.  Merideth and I happily dozed there to the sound of the water trickling and the two littlest boys splashing and playing, our dog right in the middle of things, and our oldest boy giving warnings and brotherly advice.    

It was a random, spur-of-the-moment decision to go there that day; wedging it in between obligations to make it happen.  But, it was a so blessed and full of glory.  It was a moment when we were still, and allowed God to renew us and draw us together.  

May you seek God's glory and beauty in the ordinary moments of your day today.  May you push back against the busy-ness, noise and distractions and discover that you have more than enough time to be still and allow God to fill you with God's Spirit.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.