Saturday, October 6, 2012

Days Pass Quickly By

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -- Psalm 139:16

Another week has come and gone and my list of things I’d really like to do barely has a dent in it. Sometimes it’s just frustrating. My life seems like a runaway train and I am powerless to stop it.

I know I’m not alone in this. We are so busy getting through the moments that time just zips by. I laugh sometimes when I remember what my elders used to say about time passing slowly as a child and quickly as an adult. They were right.

Perhaps, too, I’ve reordered my priorities a bit. That is mostly a good thing. Until my life fades away and the duties of the world take over. Then I shake my head in wonder. Will it always be this way? Will I die without ever accomplishing the things I really mean to do?

I can’t say that I would change the week. There were sick people to visit and families to comfort as they readied to bury their dead. There was work to be done, a doctor appointment for a parent, and the usual things of laundry and food and dishes to be washed.

And then the week was done. Or almost anyway. This morning I headed north for work, forgoing the craft show and yard sales I’d planned to visit. I am grateful for the work and always remember that some have no opportunities to earn money at all.

Oh, and I’ve spent hours preparing for my Sunday school class and women’s Bible study group. I enjoy them both. I do. But some days it seems overwhelming until I remember that God called me to this place. He gives me words and direction and somehow that makes it alright.

But I wonder sometimes why I don’t laugh like I used to do. Or did I ever? Surely I did once upon a time. In days gone by I did things just for fun. I attended concerts and plays. I watched baseball at the stadium instead of catching a game every now and then on television. I went to the beach. I drank coffee at sidewalk cafes. I miss that life sometimes.

Then I remember how empty it could be. It was a life filled with activity and fun, with friends and lighthearted laughter. Until tragedy came and then it wasn’t fun anymore.

This week went quickly by because so many people around me are hurting. And people come first for me now. Some weeks are just like this one. I wish they weren’t. I long for laughter where there is now grief. I pray for healing where there is now illness and despair. And I stand with those who need the comfort of people who care. That’s where my week went and somehow that’s okay.