About Going Back to that Other Routine....

"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.  Then joy will accompany him into his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun." 
Eccl 8: 15

....a fitting reading for Labor Day.  

We are on the eve of routine, preparing to go with a different flow. 

So much has happened this summer, so much has changed, and so much has stayed the same.   We have gone away alone, we've gone on some family day trips, we've gone to friends' houses and have just stayed in town, around the house.  Our landscape and social fabric changes.   Old friends go and new friends come.

A really difficult event of this past summer was attending the funeral for a classmate of our youngest son.   As a parent I listened to the siblings, the dad, and watched the slideshow.  You can't help but try to put yourself in their shoes....and you come away with a totally different perspective on what is really important in life.   It makes you not want to be in a hurry. You want to make sure you say the I love yous and you make sure you go places together and take the photos. 

This morning we learned that a classmate of our youngest was hospitalized yesterday after a cycling accident.  He is in critical condition with a head injury. The son of a friend of mine, also sustained a head injury this summer.   We are continually confronted with the fragility and brevity of life.   How quickly we head out the door each day, assuming that life will always ebb and flow predictably.  

So on this eve....I have to be glad.  I can head into this new season, having spent the last one under the sun making sure we had times of gladness together.  There was a time for everything. You enjoy the laughter and the good times.  And you work through the difficult things because it's worth it.   And you never know how many days God will give you or your loved ones.  You just have to make the most of every moment and make sure to fill each moment with all the love and gladness you can muster.

...and trust that your times are in His Hands (Psalm 31:15).