This post is by my guest blogger, who also happens to be my husband, Paul.
Today always reminds me of this old Staples commercial. Classic! And funny because it rings true (at least a little bit) with every parent I know.
Anyone with children has experienced it: Toward the end of the summer, our kids begin to sit in front of the TV a little longer … they bicker a little more frequently … they miss their friends from school. It’s time to go back. We all know it in our gut.
And yet, there’s a sadness to the first day of school. It signals the end of the relatively carefree days of summer. ANOTHER summer gone. We’re 8 months through another year. Where does the time go? Our kids are growing up way too fast! Is it possible that next year I’ll have one in Middle School and one in High School!? It just doesn’t seem possible.
This snowball of a thought process is why this time of year also puts me in mind of eternity. Call me weird … it’s just how my mind works. To borrow from another commercial: Life comes at you fast. I find it scary to think about just how fast life moves. It’s like that line in the song “Fireflies”: “I’d like to make myself believe, that planet Earth turns slowly.” But it doesn’t. It moves fast. Really fast. And so, I lapse into this momentary sadness and it threatens to envelope me. But then something else takes over. It’s a kind of excitement. In fact, it’s why I don’t hate going through this whole thought process every September.
You see, the first day of school – in the midst of the separation anxiety I’m feeling from missing my kids – also reminds me to take stock in what’s important in life. For me, it becomes another opportunity to stop and appreciate my family and friends and, more importantly, to re-energize my faith. To thank God for His many blessings and to think about how, in return, I can bless others in His name. This is why I’m here … why I exist. And, so, in a way not intended by Staples … I do indeed count this as the most wonderful time of year.
No comments:
Post a Comment