Time sure swirls...

Wow, has it really been February 4 since I last took the time to write? That either means I'm lazy or I had a lot on my plate or a little combination of both. Time flies doesn't it? Time "swirls" may be a better way of putting it.

It's an easy and dangerous trap not to pay attention to some things as time swirls by. At the same time, it's equally as dangerous to try to be involved in everything swirling around you. Balance is the key isn't it? I don't ever want to use this venue as a personal sounding board but this week I came really close to seeing time just slow down to what felt like a stop. At least it felt that way to me. I would really like to share something very personal.

Everyone close to me is aware that this past week both of my maternal grandparents went to be with the Lord as a result of a car accident in Athens, GA. Ma-maw died on the way to the hospital and Pa-paw died 4 days later as his body just shut down from all the trauma. When I got the news on Tuesday, I honestly didn't really know how to feel. My world gets so fast sometimes that I just can't wrap my mind around sudden reality as it applies to me. In fact, I really didn't know how to feel until we were all at the grave side on Saturday looking at two caskets. And that's when it happened...time just kind of stopped. The grave site was off the beaten path away from noisy traffic and the hustle and bustle of normal paced life. For a brief moment I remembered the times I had with my grandparents in a similar place - in the woods mending a fence or looking for a calf, sitting on a porch at a place where there was no phone and not much of a TV, sitting around a supper table or casting a line in the pond. That's when it hit me just how much I was going to miss them both. They represented so much of who I am when I just slow down for a minute and enjoy the life God has given me. For that brief moment, time stopped swirling and the memories I have of two very precious people flooded in. I needed that moment. I need that moment more often. God reminded me right there that I can't do too much regretting the things I didn't say or do but I can makes some plans to slow down every now and then and enjoy those other precious people he has placed in my life.