As I sit here preparing for tomorrow's morning of children's Bible study classes and our children's worship services, I'm amazed at how quickly the summer flew by. Here we are, school starting back on Monday (began last week for Barrow County), and its barely August! I remember summers as a child/teen myself, when school would let out the first week of June, and wouldn't resume until after Labor Day in Sept. The summers feel so short, because they are so short!
Its been quite a summer too- VBC was huge in June, followed by day trips, "MythBusters" series in RockiTown, an unforgettable family vacation in the Bahamas, our annual 2-day 5th Grade Adventure Trip, then most recent, InFocus Middle School Camp up in North Carolina, where I brought about 30 of those graduated 5th, soon-to-be 6th graders in preparation for promoting them up & out of my ministry. Summer break is exciting, but its no "break" for us in children's ministry! And tomorrow, we say a final "goodbye" to the new 6th graders, and welcome the new kinders into our ministry. A bittersweet day, every year.
This summer is marking changes for our family as well. Kelsey graduated high school back the end of May, enrolled in Georgia Gwinnett College, and has been working her first job all summer. Her classes begin in a week or two. I no longer have a child in county schools. Both girls are college students. And Ansley has been accepted in transfer to UGA, moving out this week into an apartment with 3 other Hebron girls already living in Athens. The slow, steady march toward the "empty nest" is taking place.
Is it me, or do the days, weeks, months, and years seem to fly by faster, the older I get? It seems only yesterday the above events were still in the planning, anticipatory stages. In fact, it seems the past decade just flew by! The 2000's were a blur. A busy, productive decade, but a blur, nonetheless. The '90's now seem like another lifetime, when you realize Y2K was almost 11 years ago. Wow.
There are so many memories over the years of family, friends, ministry, that I wouldn't trade for anything. Even more, there are those I wish I could have stopped time in, lingered over, maybe even had the chance to have done a little better. But "time marches on", "time waits for no man", and so on. So I can either live in the past, relishing the victories and regretting the losses and shortfalls, or chalk them all up to experience, place my family, friends, and ministry in the capable hands of my Lord, Savior, and Father, and take hold of His hand myself, continuing to journey on with Him. I choose the road with my Heavenly Father.
A poem by Tolkien comes to mind-

The road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.