Nov 12, 2025 – Preserving
How did I let so much time get away from me in writing? That happens in most areas of our lives as many things distract us from enjoyable tasks and even from necessary duties. It’s so easy to “put off to tomorrow….” Sometimes obligation draws us back to completion of the tasks; but more often than not, it’s that nagging thought that something has been left undone. Even pleasurable things can be nags at times.
Three of the last eight days have been taken up with a visit to my aunt’s house in Auburn to go over the wealth of genealogy information she has amassed through the years. It has been a labor of love for the most part, but she is tired now and wants to pass the mantle to any and all who are interested. I am one of the interested especially because she has done all the hard work. She laments that she needs to be more organized but, wow, she doesn’t see what I see. I can’t wait to apply some of what she has put in place to the many boxes of memories I am storing in our home. Aunt Libba is my mother’s sister and I’ve always felt that I was more like her in many ways than like Mama. Two of the more important interests we share are preserving the past and writing. I found even more evidence of that on this trip.
The fall leaves offered me a very colorful drive. I especially enjoyed seeing strong reds appearing amidst all the yellow hues. It has been a while since I’ve made the trip to my alma mater, which is also where I spent many childhood summers (as well as in Opelika), so the memories (good and bad) competed enough with the audio book I was listening to that I had to keep rewinding it. It’s so important to take time to visit family (and friends). I’m grateful that I had the time to make more memories.
JC – “This is a time of abundance in your life.” Indeed, that is actually how I feel especially in regards to time and how I’m using it. I’ve wondered, to myself and in this blog, if I’ve accomplished enough in my life and what I should do with my time that is so much more my own now than in all the years past. It is even more so for my aunt. I think we both have easily forgotten how much we have given to our families and communities through the years, not as much as some but perhaps more than others. We are allowed to enjoy seasons of rest throughout our lives. Why do some of us not really get that?
Young continues as she believes God would say to us, “I want you to enjoy to the full this time of ease and refreshment. I delight in providing it for you. Sometimes My children hesitate to receive My good gifts with open hands. Feelings of false guilt creep in, telling them they don’t deserve to be so richly blessed. This is nonsense-thinking, because no one deserves anything from Me. My kingdom is not about earning and deserving; it’s about believing and receiving.”
Streams – “We may dwell ‘with the king for his work’ anywhere and everywhere. We may be called to serve Him in the most unlikely places and under the most adverse conditions. It may be out in the countryside, far away from the King’s many activities in the city….It makes no difference! The King who places us ‘there’ will come and dwell with us. Frances Ridley Havergal”
Cowman continues as she quotes Frederick William Faber, “Brightly colored sunsets and starry heavens, majestic mountains and shining seas, and fragrant fields and fresh cut flowers are not even half as beautiful as a soul who is serving Jesus out of love, through the wear and tear of an ordinary, unpoetic life.” She quotes Kenelm Digby as she writes, “The most saintly souls are often those who have never distinguished themselves as authors or allowed any major accomplishment of theirs to become the topic of the world’s conversation. No, they are usually those who have led a quiet inner life of holiness, having carried their sweet bouquets unseen, like a fresh lily in a secluded valley on the edge of a crystal stream.” You see me. You see Aunt Libba (and I do too). Thank You.
(I thought I’d pressed “Publish” on the 12th but apparently not; so today is a twoferone blog day.)
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