The Spark of Summer

Ahhhh... Summer
I love the wonderful days of summer. I teach school and I have more time free in the summer than any other time of the year. (Notice that I do not say that I have my summer free because that of course is simply not true. I think this is perhaps one of the busiest summers as far as my schedule for several years, but I digress.) I would have to say then that summer is my favorite season of the year. I love the warm days, glorious blue skies and the glories of nature that I see around me.
Thinking back at summers gone by, one of my favorite summer-time activities that I enjoyed in my younger days would have to be shooting fireworks. What could be better than spending your days blowing things up with firecrackers and bottle rockets, growing long magic snakes, and then at night filling the skies with glorious sparks of all kinds? As a youngling I thought that to be glorious. I would save up a significant amount of my money, and I would go to purchase my fireworks for the year as early as I could to dream of their glory and judicially burn them up day by day ending with the glorious finale on the fourth of July. I even enjoyed arranging them carefully in a box so that I could survey my arsenal and chose my cherished items well.
Today a similar situation with less joy awaits me. I am destined to organize and sell fireworks as a church fundraiser for this week. Yes, I will place them, position them, display them, and hopefully sell tons of them to joyful individuals who share the dreams that I once held so dear.
Do I love fireworks as well as I once did? Today, the images it evokes are not as pleasing and satisfying as those of my childhood. Today, I hope that the days are not as warm and the insects stay far away more than the hope for glories in my arsenal, but the spark still survives. As I blow up things with my little boy and the glorious displays awe him, I wish for a hopeful future with God as our focus.
I think back to the "old school" war movies that inspired patriotism and reminded me of the sacrifices that our veterans paid for all of the freedoms we now enjoy. I think of trying to instill respect for our past and a hope for our future in my son. I hope that our upcoming holiday is more that fun with fire, but fire that lives on passed on from our forefathers to the posterity beyond. May that spark still survive.

Time--Don't Try to Capsulize It

tick...tick...tick...tick...

Time just keeps on sliding by. Excruciatingly slow as a glacier at some times of anticipation and boredom, but mostly more quickly than I would like for it to pass. Life is more like lightning, or as a vapor as the bible would say.

I look around at my life--my family, my friends, my job--time just keeps marching on as the saying goes. I can hardly believe that I have been at my job for fifteen years (or is it sixteen now?). I can still remember that first day of teaching with it's stress and anticipation meeting new people that are now long-time friends. It seems as though the ten years that I have been married have just flew by like a train passing the countryside with its beautiful view of comfort and companionship. Now, most vividly I look at how quickly my son has changed from that tiny little premature infant without any hair to the young boy that is too quickly growing into a young man.

Time clicks it seconds by with an unclear future for so many. Ecclesiastes says there is a time for everything. In Ecclesiastes 8:6-7 it says, "For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death." These are ominous words to ponder about life and death, but I am glad that I know the one who knows the future--the one who has power over life and death. No matter my doubts or my shortcomings, my work or lack of it, Jesus is always there to hold my hand through my struggles and give me hope in my doubts. He is the way, the Truth and the life. I am glad that he he gives me hope through his death and resurrection which is an unlikely method of hope in our natural eye, but a great hope in our spiritual and eternal life.

Popular culture says, "Don't let life pass you by. Grab hold! Take charge!" I believe that we must take charge. Carpe' Diem (seize the day) is such an important motivation for our life, for our time. Let us just keep the proper perspective with the total picture of our life as a tiny vapor transforming into the fruits of our eternal destiny. Let us all make today and every day a time for putting God first, our family next, and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. This will make our time as quickly as it goes by count--for eternity.

tick...tick... tick.. tick...

Taking Time to Rest

I know that I should take time to rest, but there never seems to be enough time to do that. I know the addage that there will always be something to do. It is true. I take time for God--never enough, I take time for my family--not enough there either, I take time for work-- there is always more I should and could do, and everything else seems to fall by the wayside. I find myself unable to keep up with everything at home, and my friends and aquantances just are left out there with limited and totally infrequent contact. Living in today's world sure takes it out of you even with your best planning and organization.
With all of that said, sometimes we just need to get away from all of life's hustle and bustle and just spend some time relaxing. I finally took a few days away and just spent time doing things I did not just have to do (although I was spending some time with part of my family that I had been neglecting). It really felt good. Maybe I can make myslef fit that into my schedule as well. I know that that is an important part that God wants us to put into our schedule. It is just one thing that is easy to ignore. If we continue to let our jobs, obligations and others needs push out that priority, we will not find that balance that we need for our lives.
Balance is important in our time. God created the earth in six days and then even he rested for a day. Why? He did not run out of energy, but God wanted to show us how important it is to take time to enjoy the life that he has given us. If we keep pressing forward to consume every minute of our day, before we know it our life will have passed us by in a blur that we only rushed through and did not enjoy. I don't think that I should give up on my schedule and time management, but I think that I can manage it with more accordance to the model God set for us. Then perhaps I can reflect more on the wonders of God and the special people in my life, as well as having a better focus for my future.

The Simpsons?!? Ahhhh!

Here I am finally setting up my blog, and there under the snazzy little game I set up is something about the Simpsons game. How crazy is that? It was not really a subject that I wanted to see posted below my game.

I do not approve of the Simpsons show which leads me to believe that I would not want to play or see the Simpsons game. I did watch the Simpsons once when I was in college and it was a new show on television. The world view and content that was presented then was one that I did not approve of or would like to promote in any way. Somehow I do not think it has improved (especially with previews and promos that I have seen on TV ). So I just wanted to get that out there and make my thoughts known-- as opposed to the silent approval.