Today’s Post By: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
One summer evening while staring into the glowing embers of our back yard fire pit, I suddenly realized how rarely we took opportunities to be outside after dark. Why didn’t we do this more often? Sure, life gets busy… but we’re not that busy. We always seem to have enough time to mindlessly stare into a television screen each evening.
When I was a kid, we rarely spent time indoors, especially during the summer months. Our days were consumed with outdoor activities like biking, swimming, playing in the woods, and climbing trees. When we got tired, we didn’t go inside. Instead, we lay down on the soft, warm grass and combed the sky for clouds conspicuously shaped like animals. Evenings were spent running barefoot through cool grass, catching lightning bugs or playing “ghost in the graveyard.” The good old days.
Sometimes I wish I could recapture that childlike wonder again, everything exciting and new, days and nights simple and carefree.
I think we can get there, at least to some extent, but we might need to be more deliberate in our pursuit. We can (and probably should) make a conscious effort to stop every now and then and take life in so it doesn’t whiz by at lightning speed. We may not have the same amount of free time as when we were kids, but I would be willing to bet that you (like me) fritter away more moments than you care to admit each day.
I’m all for modern conveniences, but sometimes I wonder. Has technology made our lives easier, or has it made our lives busier?
Today was one of those picture perfect days. The sky was a clear blue, and the temperatures hovered in the low 70s. I wasn’t about to let another opportunity pass me by, so I went for a long walk, and when I got home, I spent a good hour and a half enjoying the outdoors. Even though I was doing yard work, pulling up weeds from the landscaping and clearing away gnat filled spider webs from the eaves of our home, I still got to feel the cool breeze across my face and hear the chorus of song birds ushering in a new day. It felt really good to stop and take it all in.
Like twinkling lightning bugs on a warm summer evening, each day still holds flickers of childlike wonderment. If only we would stop and take time to notice, we just might capture a few. And when we do, we can tuck those moments into our hearts like fireflies in a jar.
“My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” (Psalm 108:1-5)
