Perhaps a Great Gift of Time...

As I left my house the other morning, I saw a whole family...dad, mom, and three kids...

all out taking a bike ride together, smiling and enjoying each other and life in general!

Can I just say that, amidst all the chaos and uncertainty of these times, I think the families of our country have received a great gift...a chance to see what life with each other could be, how deep our relationships could be, when everything superfluous is removed from our daily activities.

So many of us have stopped--out of necessity--and looked for ways to make our time at home fun and special. Most families are spending the majority of their time every day together, thinking ahead and planning different and fun ways to connect!

Yes, we can find the bad in our current situation--we always can. And, I am not making light of the seriousness of this pandemic. But, we can always find things that cause us to fear. We can contemplate and dwell on motives and reasons for these situations that will invoke doubts in our hearts..Sure. But today, I choose to see the good!

Seeing them all out together made me stop and wonder just how long it has been since families, like that one, have set aside everything on a Saturday morning and just taken a bike ride together, the whole family. How long since we set aside work responsibilities, all the sports practices and games, all the extracurricular school activities and personal hobbies, and just loved each other?

Time translates to love in any language. Giving my time says to another, "I care enough about you to stop everything I am doing to just be there and listen."

I pray that, with the reopening of America, our 'normal' will not be quite the same.

We will not forget these precious days with family! May the Lord grant each family the ability to see the gift of those who live in our home in the next few days or weeks ahead before we resume the busyness of every-day life!