The final glimmers of light cast shadows across the landscape of this day as I sit in the silence. I have just returned from South Carolina where I enjoyed a week of family time. The Florida family also joined in the family fun. As you might imagine a house with five adults, three children, two dogs, and a cat was anything but silent. Even though I rose early each morning, there was minimal time for silence! There was a hum of activity and chatter each moment of the day and I couldn’t be more delighted or grateful for the noise and confusion!
An early morning walk which has traditionally been my quiet time was joined by three others this day. I began a pace behind them while listening to the easy banter and observations as they walked through the tree lined neighborhood. The oldest grand eagerly sought shade to walk in rather than be exposed to the bright morning sun. The younger grandchild challenged us all to a run up the hill. Those who foolishly rose to the challenge breathed heavily as they reached the stop sign only to be met with her enthusiastically doing squats to remain limber. Ouch, the signs of aging could not match the vitality of her youth yet we all arrived home safe and sound, better for having spent this precious time together.
These moments together with children and grands, restore my soul. These walks that begin hand in hand and evolve into a mass of voices laughing in delight and complaining of the heat make my heart sing. The open market, the swimming, the chaotic kitchen, the bodies strewn across the living room floor to watch a bedtime movie and the dogs curled among them bring a fullness and sweetness of heart.
Back in Dallas, my pup greets me with an “I missed you” wag of his tail, my kitties cuddle closely vying for a part of my lap and quiet permeates my home. I feel a little melancholy missing the noise and the sound of many voices rising all at once.
My mind turns to Ecclesiastes 3:1 “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”. Indeed, the time for everything. This was truly a time to vacation, enjoy the love of family, rejuvenate my soul the way that only my children and grands can charge my spirit and revitalize my soul. Now, sitting in my back yard, is a time to once again live the joy of Unity on Greenville.
How fortunate am I that I need not give up one for the other? I can savor the time with family and hold them close in my heart. I can be present with Unity and live as I am called. How fortunate I am to be filled with the melding of life in such an exquisite way. A little further in Ecclesiastes 6:9 I am reminded “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.”
I have been blessed to overflowing by time well spent with my beloveds. I am blessed equally by the time I have at Unity on Greenville. This is the grace filled reality of my life. I step out my front door and before my eyes are morning glories in full bloom. From the seeds I planted after the lesson on April 28th “Planting Your Seeds”, these lovely blooms are the first I have seen. How serendipitous that today they chose to show their colorful selves to me.