So Big, So Fast!

Now that we have a grandson (Jesse Gabriel, born on August 11^th!), so many people have said to Kim and me, “Enjoy them while they’re little. They get so big, so fast!”  And, I’m sure that’s true; in fact, as a parent, I know that’s true.  After all, it seems like it wasn’t all that long ago that we were celebrating the birth of our first son, Jonathan, and not too long afterwards the births of Nathaniel and Joanna. (We had three children in less than four years!) Now our “little boy” has had a little boy of his own. Yes, they get so big, so fast!

 

As of late I’ve been feeling a bit philosophical about life. The passage of time, the circles of life, the stages of life, the brevity of life, etc. are all swirling around inside my head. Sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my head around it all. After all, how is it that just a short time ago I was holding my baby boy who is now holding his own baby boy? How could it be that my three little kids who were once so dependent upon Kim and me for their every need are now off on their own, setting up their own homes, pursuing their own goals and dreams, getting married, having babies, etc., etc. 

 

The song in the play “Fiddler on the Roof” expresses it well:

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older,
When did they?

 

When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?

 

Sunrise sunset, sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly flow the days,
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as they gaze... (Jerry Bock)

 

The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed a similar sentiment when he wrote:

“Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.” (Ecclesiastes 1:4-7 – NIV) And, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens….” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

It’s true, life is filled with all kinds of stages and circles. We will be born and eventually die. We will raise children who will then raise children of their own. There is a time for everything. But unlike the writer of Ecclesiastes says, that does not make life “meaningless.” Rather, it is actually all part of God’s design for our lives as he works in our lives through every stage of life to bring about his good plans and purposes and lead us towards eternity, “from glory to glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

I don’t know what stage of life you’re in right now. But wherever you are in life, I want to encourage you to trust God, believe that, “He has made everything beautiful in its time,” (vs. 3:11) and, live your life looking towards eternity!

 

Have a great day!

 

Pastor Tim Harris