Days Gone By

People nowadays take time far more seriously than eternity.  Thomas Kelly

When I was growing up we didn’t have much in the way of technology.  We had one TV, no computers, no cell phones and plenty of time on our hands.  The only thing we had to do living in the country was to make our own entertainment.  Growing up in that atmosphere taught me several things.  It taught me a great deal about life.

Every Saturday was mow the lawn day.  Our house was on five acres so that is a lot of mowing.  Everyone in the family got out and mowed or worked in the yard.  We had animals to take care of so there was feeding animals, collecting eggs and milking the cow.  I don’t remember ever saying that I was bored when I was growing up.  In the first place, if you ever said you were bored Dad and Mom would find you something to relieve your boredom.  We had a big fireplace in our den and we never bought firewood.  We cut down a tree on our property and chopped wood.  When you chopped wood you had to haul wood.  It comes in pretty handy having four children when you have as much going on as we did around our house. 

We had mayhaw trees on our property and one of my favorite memories was going to pick mayhaws.  The trees were on the 20 acres behind our house in the middle of the woods.  We would get buckets and pails and head out to pick mayhaws.  Do you know how many quality conversations you can have with your children when it is just you, them and nature?  We didn’t have iPods or iPhones that would allow you to bring the music with you.  So you didn’t have each kid with earbuds plugged into their ears listening to who knows what.  When we finished picking mayhaws we would go back to the house and help Mom make homemade jelly. 

We had blackberries that grew wild around our house and we would grab our buckets and go pick blackberries.  That meant homemade blackberry jelly or cobbler. Summer meant time spent outdoors.   

When I look at the world today, it makes me sad.  Some of us take vacations to get away from technology (email, text messages, phone calls etc…) and some of us even take technology with us on vacation. 

My husband and I were watching a baseball game on TV and have you ever noticed how many people are there in person but not even watching the game.  We saw several young people who were on their phones texting or tweeting or whatever it is you do when you are connected to the world wherever you go. 

When we realize that God time can be in the quiet of the day with nothing but nature around us, that is when we get closest to the One who created us.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, many times technology is our worst enemy.  We spend so much time texting, tweeting and communicating through technology, that we are creating a generation that doesn’t know how to communicate socially with others much less with You.  I am guilty of using the technology of this world as an escape from everyday life.  If I want to gain wisdom sometimes it means setting aside the technology of the world and spending time with You. 

Scripture:  Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:23-27