As Time Goes By

The picture above in today's blog comes from the Homecoming parade and class reunion for my husband in the small town of Chester, Illinois.

My 9-yr. old daughter did not understand the concept of a class reunion, but she did delight in being able to toss candy out from a float to people on the street.
As I stood on the sidewalk waiting and waving at each float passing me by, I flashed back to the days of growing up in my own small town two hours away. The days before malls and discount shopping centers resulted in thriving businesses in our small town of 10,000 people.

When we shopped, we knew the merchants, the sales people, and they knew us. We depended upon one another. It was a true community.

When someone was ill in that town, casseroles and cards and offers to help flooded that person's home. People didn't just say, "Hello," on the street as you walked by them, they said, "Hello, Gretchen. How's your Dad? or How's your Mom?"

People were known by their names.

I miss that. While a teen, I craved to get away from my small town, to travel the world, to go where NOBODY knew my name and discover not just other cultures but myself.

Now, I wish more people knew my name. I long for the days when people did know everything about me and about my family. I long for that feeling of community as I live in the suburbs and know only a handful of my neighbors by name.

As I grow nostalgic, I am reminded today of someone who does know everything about me, knows my family, and still longs for a relationship with me: Jesus.

Because He loves me, He has prepared an amazing community for me, a community where His love is the center.

Time is flying by as we approach Thanksgiving and then the end of 2010. I put away the plastic Jack-o-Laterns and pitched the rotting carved ones. The candy from Trick-or-Treating is piled in a bowl on top of the fridge (out of daily temptation). We now wait for a new holiday time, a new winter season.

Praise God as I also wait for His direction; praise Him that the community He has prepared for me has no sadness, no loss of loved ones, no sickness...

and...

no time.

Bless you today as you rest in His love and wait on His direction.