Category / Ponderings

We’ve already catapulted to the third week of this new year of 2020! Weren’t we just buying extra batteries, food stores and candles for Y2K? We speak in proverbial snippets like “the blink of an eye,” “a week is just nothing,” “where did the time go?” Indeed, time is elusive and fleeting – often our past, present and future collide and collapse so it seems there is no differential at all. The continuum of our lives is but a circle. Sometimes fractured or incomplete – often imperfect and challenging – yet our lives move forward as we remember the past.  We move forward in hope that the future will be sweet and kind, rewarding and productive. Much of that future is built on our past – on what we remember.

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A couple of years ago my husband and I decided, totally out of the blue, that we should become beekeepers. Doing so would provide us with a hobby, homegrown honey and would most likely help in the pollination of flowers in our yard.  So, we ordered a “nuc” (pronounced “nuke”) whereby our starter bees would be delivered the next spring. Honey bees are absolutely fascinating. Since their arrival, we have learned more than we could have ever imagined there was to learn. And, somewhere along the way, our daughters, who started out this episode of our lives being somewhat fearful of the new residents at the back of our yard, began filming their dad giving bee “updates.” He has garnered a bit of a following on their Instagram stories (much to his delight).  And the little one liner he works into each of his updates: “Bees just doing what bees do.”

So it got me to thinking – – – that’s exactly what can be said about so many of us: “Moms just doin’ what moms do!” The thing is, most of what “mom is just doin’” is hardly heralded in the world around us. But that doesn’t make it any less vital to the lives of our children, homes and families.

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For many years my husband and I have diligently (and now I understand, somewhat naively) prayed that our girls would “shine like the stars in the universe” to those around them* – to not only be different, but to make a difference. We desired they become godly young women whose strength and beauty comes not only from their outer looks, but from the loveliness of faith, fortitude, integrity and commitment radiating from the depths of their inner character.

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The last couple of weeks I’ve had the precious opportunity to ponder as our family was slightly “cocooned” together anxiously awaiting the arrival of our family’s first boy/son/grandchild/nephew.  Due to the gracious gift of a temporary housing situation that could accommodate all of us, we’ve had the privilege and blessing of experiencing his sweet arrival and new life together in a comfortable place. I’ve watched my two younger daughters become delightfully enchanted with the little guy and his dear parents transition into Mommy and Daddy without hesitation or trepidation. It has been a time to cherish and treasure. It has also given me time to consider, once again, what is truly valuable in life. What is my treasure? What is the desire of my heart and what will I do to attain it?

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I don’t know about you, but my life has certainly not turned out as I expected in my younger years.  That is not to say it has been less than I expected, just different. In fact, as I reflect back on what I would have considered a happy, successful, “flourishing” life three or four decades ago, my life is now almost in another dimension than the one I was holding up as the standard and measure of achievement and happiness at that youthful point of my outlook on my life’s future journey.

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Years ago Carole King sang “I feel the earth move under my feet.” The other day I was telling a dear friend that there are so many changes taking place in my life and the lives of those around me that I literally feel as though the ground is giving way – – – that it is shifting right under my feet.

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We’ve all been there . . . .  Imagining ourselves pausing at the top of the palace stairway preparing to descend into the ball . . . . . and everyone  – men and women alike – becomes silent, stops dancing and turns to gaze at the shimmering vision (you or me) at the top of the stairway. You may deny it, but every little girl, every young lady, maybe every grown woman, dreams to have her “Cinderella” moment.

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Today is the last day we will parent a teenager.

That may bear repeating: Today is the last day we will parent a teenager!

Amazingly, this day has come far more quickly than I would have ever imagined the day my oldest daughter turned the ripe old age of three. Sequentially thereafter, the age of three went by ever so slowly for our other two daughters as well.  So how did this day get here almost before we could blink our eyes? How did we traverse the teenage years with our three lovely daughters with fewer (that doesn’t mean there were none) problems, blow-ups, rebellious moments, sarcasm, disrespect, pain and separation than I would have ever dreamed? Truly, by and through the grace of God, with continuous prayer and much time and conversation!

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Yes, the preciousness of each day and the uncertainty of life hit close to home for us in Kentucky yesterday.  The loss of life, peace and security shattered the hopes, joy, anticipation and comfort of yet another “place” we enter, without a thought, most days. Whether a school, church, mall, gymnasium, amusement park, concert venue, theater – public or private – these are the “places” where we live life. Where we grow and learn, shop, compete, worship and gather to be entertained or merely to enjoy one another’s company.  Sometimes those precious days end in sorrow and grief.  Most days they don’t. But that is really the basis of the uncertainty of life – we don’t know what each day will hold.

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What comes to mind when someone asks you “how are your investments doing these days?” If you have stocks or bonds, mutual funds or IRAs, you might say they are doing pretty well, certainly better than a few years ago.

But do other “investments” come to mind – – – Investments in friends, in family, in relationships in general? How are your spiritual investments going? Are you hoping for a tremendous return when you need it the most?

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