To Everything There Is A Season

To Everything There Is A Season

           When was the last time you stopped and enjoyed a simple moment in life… just for the beauty of the moment itself?  This afternoon my mom and I went grocery shopping and as we were strolling down an aisle, my gaze fell upon a display of balls.  Good, old-fashioned bouncy balls like the kind we all used to play with as kids.  All of a sudden, a stream of memories flooded through my mind.  Lazy summer afternoons of playing hopscotch on our driveway, drawing with sidewalk chalk, blowing bubbles and watching them burst as the soft breeze carried them floating down to the concrete, making a wish and blowing downy dandelion seeds across our lawn, cloud-watching, shredding blades of grass, playing jump-rope, buying ice-cream from the ice-cream man…  I know I’m not the only one with these happy childhood memories.  And of course, the fond memory of bouncing my big balls around or bouncing as I sat on them.  I had two- one was pink, cream, and yellow swirled and the other was solid purple.  I loved those balls.

            Perhaps I’m old-school or old-fashioned, but I can’t help wondering what our new generation of children are missing.  Sitting inside in front of a laptop screen, playing with their Wii, surfing for apps on their iPods and iPads- it’s what they want to do because it’s all they know.  It’s all our society teaches them that there is.  They just don’t know what they’re missing.  The old saying, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you,” isn’t always true.

            As we all grow up and move from childhood into adulthood, it’s so easy to get caught up in busy schedules and agendas.  We have things to do, places to go, people to see.  We’re busy.  It’s easy to get trapped into the rush of advertisement and media.  “The bigger, the better,”  “The more you buy, the more you save,” they tell us.  It’s all about getting the latest and greatest, and it’s easy to get locked into that mentality too.  But life isn’t counted by how many meetings we fit into our schedule or how quickly we can afford to get the newest electronic device.  Years from now, the items you have listed on your agenda won’t really matter and if you have the latest iPad, guess what?  It’ll be outdated before you know it.  No, what will really count in years to come will be those memories you can look back and reflect on.  Those pictures you can pull out from the old picture boxes and laugh at the good times.  (Yes, I have a box of real hardcopy pictures.)  Don’t rush through life.  There’s a time for growing up and moving on and there’s a time for schedules and getting things accomplished in your day; we’re supposed to be good stewards of the time that the Lord has given us, but there’s also a time for stepping back, setting our priorities again where they should be, and just enjoying the moment for what it is- whether that be stopping to smell that blooming rose in your garden, sitting on your front porch with a glass of lemonade, taking a drive down a country road with your windows rolled down and your music turned up, or taking the old rod and reel down to the lake for an afternoon.  I don’t know what that looks like for you, but you know what I’m talking about.  There’s a time for sitting back, taking it easy, and looking at life through an eternal perspective: “In a few years, what will really matter and count in the end?”  I love the song by Owl City called Hot Air Balloon; it describes the joy of childhood and imagination so beautifully.  I’m also a fan of the old black-and-white Andy Griffith TV show, and one of my favorite songs is Mayberry by Rascal Flatts.  The description of the simple lifestyle in Andy Griffith’s Mayberry town is so refreshing and inspiring.

            Because of my enthusiasm, my mom bought that ball in the grocery store for me, and I’m so glad she did.  Not only because I love the color of it, it’s fun bouncing it, and it reminds me of good times, but because it reminds me to not rush through life.  Life is a journey that’s meant to be enjoyed.  Take the time to step back and enjoy your today.  Celebrate life and the joy found in the very essence of living.         

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:” Ecc 3:1

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3