There are so many old adages about time. They remind me that I’m not alone in feeling that time just seems to go by too fast. Things like:

Time flies when you’re having fun. - Famous Idiom

Time and tide wait for no man. - Ancient English Proverb

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future (some of you sang that one didn’t you?) - Steve Miller Band

Time Marches On (some of you sang that one too) - Tracy Lawrence

The last few days feel like a beautiful, yet also grim, reminder of such. Not only is our summer well over half way to an end, my daughter has married her high school sweetheart and embarked on her own new journey. As I’ve reflected on this major event in life (that so many of you have experienced before me) and prepared for what to say during the ceremony I couldn’t help but reflect on all the things we have done through the years.

Thinking back on how God has blessed my life is always overwhelming. It is easy in the moment to be frustrated when you think about what you have not accomplished, but when you glance back and see what all God has done -- and especially all he has accomplished through His people -- it is hard not to be grateful. And that even seems to never really be enough.

Everyone wants a good life. That idea might make you think of the accumulation of money and things. Or you might hear that and think of a long life. Still another way of interpreting it could have to do fame and notoriety.  The meaning of that first sentence might be debated, but the idea of a good life would very likely never be turned down. Yet, Jesus interprets that in a much different way than most of us do. It is what he calls abundant life and it doesn’t have anything to do with money, stuff, length of life, fame, or notoriety. 

No matter what subject we are considering, we all see things from a different perspective. Those who grew up in the same region, town, or even the very same house will have much different views of life, relationships, faith, politics, and just about any other topic. Everyone has had their very own personal experiences and varying degrees of influence from friends and family to education and spirituality. 

Last weekend was an adventure for me. Friday I joined a group of first graders from Mars Hill at the Cook’s Museum in Decatur before I made my way over to Bridgeport for the weekend. At the time I really didn’t know that much of my trip was going to revolve around the history of Alabama as much as it did. Of course there are many interesting facts to be learned about our state and its critters at the Cook’s Museum. There are some fun activities that you can do that help you explore the various habitats we have in our state, from the Gulf to the mountains, and the swamps to the farmland. If you haven’t been to this little gem of a museum right here in north Alabama I would encourage you to. 

This past week has been an absolute blessing for me. Several months ago, I had an idea of taking a group of men somewhere to do a kind of challenge retreat. The initial thought was for us to find a mountain to climb or some trails to hike in God’s creation. The first person I thought to contact to help me think through this adventure was Matthew Morine. He is the pulpit minister at the Castle Rock congregation in Colorado, just south of Denver. He has also climbed all 58 fourteeners (peaks above 14,000 feet) in Colorado. After a few conversations with him, I had a plan. One of their members had an Airbnb, and he suggested a couple of things we should do. So with the plan in place, all we needed were some victims…I mean volunteers. And the final crew from HP ended up being Ben Bradford, Nathan Evans, Jackson Hayes, Vernon Malone, and myself. Due to available space and his expertise in hiking, I invited my good friend Halo Fernandez to come along as well.

This year at school we have done something a little different in elementary chapel. The focus has been on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. In the past we have just read through the stories of Genesis or the Gospels every other year. But this year, we have picked a different book of the Bible for each of the Fruit of the Spirit. We started the year in August focusing on “love” in the book of 1 John. 

September’s focus was joy and we studied the book of Philippians because of the amount of times Paul talked about joy and rejoicing. October was on peace and so we studied through Ephesians because of the peace we have found in Christ. We studied the story of Joseph in November because of the way he lived his life with patience. December, very fittingly, was a celebration of kindness. For that month we looked at the book of Colossians.

“Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

(Psalms 86:11)

This is not a rare request from David or other faithful servants of God in the Scripture. In some places the writers ask God to “teach them” (27:11) and in others they say “show me” or “lead me.” It just so happens that Psalm 25:4-5 uses all three.

When we read the letters Paul wrote to the various churches in the New Testament we understand that they are inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16). What we also can see from them is the heart that Paul had for the people who he had worked with and preached to. In other words, the inspiration of the Scripture did not remove the humanity of the one writing it. Paul--along with the Lord who was inspiring these words--made it clear how they felt about the people who would read them in Paul’s day. I believe the message rings just as true today as it did then.

In one of the Songs of Ascent found in the book of Psalms you find these words: “The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad” (126:3). As we all reflect on our lives I think we could all make this statement. Understanding we have all had varying degrees of blessings throughout our lives, we have all experienced the goodness of God in one way or another.