The leaves are falling and as you drive along our winding roads you see some of the most fabulous vistas before you. The shades of orange, yellow, red and brown blanket the landscape. The moon even seems brighter and more present. Fall has come to the Hudson Valley and God has painted it spectacularly. It is wonderful to see, and when you really think about it, yes the roads are winding and it may take us longer to get from point A to point B than it does in much flatter states, but we are truly blessed to be where we are.
Not all that long ago I was having a conversation which really stuck with me. I know that isn’t exactly a difficult thing most days. In the conversation I was told, “We really don’t appreciate what we have when we have it.” Truer words have seldom been spoken.
I remember looking out at the seas of cornfields in Illinois and missing the hills and mountains of New York. Not that long ago I was reminiscing with Liam about how great it was growing up with lake Michigan less than an hour away. That doesn’t mean that I necessarily took as much advantage of that proximity when I lived there. Maybe a handful of times did I visit my Grandparents and go to the lake. I was always too busy, with too much to do. Or at least that’s what I told myself.
When the rain comes and waters the earth we don’t appreciate it, we usually complain because its so wet and gross out. When we have family close we don’t necessarily appreciate it until they move further away, or a loss happens. As your children grow older you perhaps didn’t appreciate the time that you did have and how you may have misaligned your priorities. Too often when we are blessed with a moment we don’t grasp it and make the most of it.
There are seasons of life when these moments are more alive and the thoughts occupy more of our time. Regrets and wishing ebbs and flows. The challenge is not to live permanently in a place where we are filled with regrets, or moments of what is or what could have been. It is to live in the moment which God has given to us and to enjoy and make the most of it. It is to take the moment in which God blessed us with the people around us in that moment, all that is there and make the absolute most out of it, whatever the moment might be.
I have shared before of an older woman in the congregation in which I grew up who despite having a difficult life, losing children and her spouse, would rise every morning with the motto, “This is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it.” To hear of someone who had lost so much approach every day with a desire to live that day without regret, without wondering what if, cant help but lift you up and inspire you to approach life with the same level of hope and joy.
The reality is that God blesses us every single day. Sometimes it is a huge overwhelming blessing and others it is something a bit smaller. There are times when the blessings hit us like a freight train where we become overwhelmed, and other times those blessings are like the drip of a faucet steady but not heavy. The challenge for us all to meet is whether we will live into those blessings, no matter how big or small, many or few. Let us make the most of what God sets before us, and live every day appreciating what is before us.
Grace and Peace
Rev Bill