I love this time of year... the weather changing, the leaves turning, the crops being harvested. Never mind the fact that I grew up on a farm & I'm terribly allergic to all the crop dust, it's still my favorite season. In fact, I've always thought that if I had a little girl I would consider naming her Autumn... even love the sound of it.
It never ceases to amaze me how fast time seems to go, and it seems like it goes faster all the time! Especially now with a 3 yr old running around and all the changes he keeps making.. just awesome to me!
My little guy just started preschool this year and adores it. He goes twice a week and the days in between he always asks if we go to school today. He's such a Daddy's boy, a people person.
I have to tell you that he loves school so much that Sunday morning when we went to get in the car to go to church our little guy told Hubby he was to sit in the passenger seat and Mommy was going to drive. Hubby asked him why and he responded, "Mommy knows the way." Hubby told me what the request was and I asked Hubby teasingly if the 3 yr old was now the decision maker of the household. I jumped into the driver's seat and our little one says something about us not going the right way. I told him we were going to church to which he responded, "No Mommy, you take me to school."
He had decided that when Mommy drives we go to school and when Daddy drives we go to church. Before he started school church was his favorite place to go, now obviously school has changed all of that. I gently corrected him and reminded him of all of his friends at church that we would get to see and he decided that it would be alright that we went to church instead. I was keenly aware that I had to be careful how I approached the situation so as not to upset him.
As I'm writing this,
I wonder how often God is calling us to take a different direction in our lives and all we can see is the familiar road or maybe it's the fun road ahead of us. Maybe the direction he would have us turn is fun too but we just can't see it at first, until it's gently shown to us. I wonder how often God tries to nudge me carefully without making me cause a fuss. I'm sure much more often than I would care to realize or think about.
The church I'm a member of is currently reading the book, "
One Month to Live." We just started with small groups to follow the series last Sunday and so far it has given me little insight on what it might be like to be told you only had a short time left. How would we spend it if we knew the limit of our days? What would we do with our time that's left?
Being that this is my favorite season, it would be a blessing to be in it if I found out right now that I had 30 days left. I would get to experience all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes (can't forget that wonderful apple cider!) one last time. I would hope to spend lots of time with my friends and family enjoying those things.
Most of all though, I think I would make sure that everyone around me knew how much I loved and appreciated them. I would want to be remember for being a kind person with time to share, not someone that was too busy to care... didn't intend for the rhyme :)
Take a moment to think about what things you might do if you had one month to live. Would you take a wild vacation, go skydiving, make amends with all your enemies, spend time with your loved ones? What can you do today to make memories and cherish the life you have today, so that if tomorrow is your last day you're not left saying, "I was going to get to that one day." Also, how do you want others to remember you?
I urge you to check out the book. See if it might be fitting for your church, small group, Sunday School Class, or Bible Study. It certainly makes you think about your mortality, but also gives you insight on how living for today can be beneficial to you, God, and all the people around you.
