Time

The exodus has begun; young people are heading off to college, many for the first time.  One particular young lady is among that number.  Her father commented,

“Eighteen years packed into - one blink.”

Tell me about it.

It has been said that time stops for no man.  Parenting has a way of underscoring that truth.  One day you are cuddling a precious bundle and, seemingly, the next you are looking into the face of an adult!  In my case, I am craning my neck to look into most of those faces!

Somehow it takes us by surprise.
And it takes some adjusting, but if we accept the new reality we will discover some wonderful treasures.

We get the privilege of shifting from authority figure to friend. 
There is also the joy of watching them grow into their adulthood and find the path that Papa has for them.

Most weeks two of our sons and a daughter-in-law join us for a family dinner. 
Yesterday was one of those times.

What a joy to listen to the banter around the table.  So much life and love!
How I praise my gracious God!

My children have filled my life from the moment of conception.  One of my greatest joys is being a mother.  It is part of the very fabric of who I am.  It is how Papa designed me.

As a parent is easy to lose track of time and be so immersed in our children’s lives that we do not recognize that time is moving us along too.

For sixty-one years I have enjoyed good health and few aches and pains.  Of course, there have been minor issues that have arisen, but nothing of much concern.
However, recently I have not been feeling quite myself.  It isn’t life threatening or anything like that, but my energy level has been affected.

As I adjust and take things a bit more slowly it has occurred to me that part of this is just the aging process.  Something I have never given much thought.

Papa and I have made a habit of living this life to the full.  It has come to my attention that with time I will not be able to continue in the same way.

A number of years ago I enjoyed seeing the movie, “The Bucket List”. The list was made up of all the things that the main characters wanted to accomplish before they died.

I have a bucket list, I just haven’t put it down on paper. 
The thing is that I keep coming up with more things to put on it!

By the grace of God I imagine that I will get to a number of items on the list, but I am not too concerned if I don’t.  You see, though I haven’t given any thought to the aging process I have given much thought to eternity!

Jesus is preparing a place for me in His Kingdom and it is wonderful!
Here are Jesus' Words found in the first three verses of the Fourteenth chapter of John,

“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

And where Jesus is there is life, which He tells us in verse Six,

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’”

In the Tenth chapter of John Jesus says the life He gives is abundant!

Yes, though time does sneak up on us here and will one day stop for each one of us, it cannot stop eternity.
That is where real life takes over and we get to live beyond our wildest imaginations!

I love the scene in the last book of The Chronicles of Narnia, "The Last Battle" where Aslan has won the day and one of the animals says,

"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!”*

Yes, one day I intend to go further up and further in.
My Jesus will be waiting!

*Read more: http://www.quotesquotations.com/narnia/the-last-battle-quotes.htm#ixzz248mPvX9r