In this life we will find
We will be yearning
In this life we will find
The world won’t satisfy
In this life we will find
That we will be empty
Without you.....
So many things have been on my heart and mind lately but it's been hard for me to compile them into a post that would even make sense. AND if the fact that the hubs and I are having to share a charger for our laptops hasn't been crazy enough, the one charger we are down to has decided to be temperamental and only charge our computers when it feels like it! So my computer activity has been limited lately, hopefully going to be catching up on some blogging!.....
Carrying on...
Summer has been such a wonderful time for our family and I am trying to soak up
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It is coming and going so quickly and I can't believe it is halfway over already.
These summer days have contained fun playdates with friends, special family outings, swimming, front porch rocking, ice cream, walks with the family, swinging on daddy's homemade swing, and running through the sprinklers. I have so enjoyed every second of watching my sweet 2 year old delight in the most simple things of her little world. Sweet Kate: may you always find such joy and happiness in the simple things.
Summer has also brought it's share of extremely hot weather with little to no rain. Like, my grass is brown and crunchy due to the lack of rain and extreme heat. But in the midst of this drought, we actually received a forecast that called for rain recently. As our hopes for this rain grew, it was quickly squandered with the craziest and quickest wind gust I have ever experienced in my life. As in, our 2 year old suggested we get in the closet (poor child has experienced way too much bad weather in her short little life) and our neighbors trampoline ended up on the front porch of the house across the street bad wind. And with the coming and going of this wind (and even destruction), I was reminded of what the Lord had already been stirring in my heart...
The book of Ecclesiastes contains so many incredible truths and life lessons, I think it is one of the deepest books I have studied. Solomon at the end of his life is reflecting back on his own life and the things he came to learn and realize. Not only was he the wisest man in all the world that gave earthly wisdom and advice to many, but through his writings he leaves a legacy of wisdom that goes beyond earthy matters and effects the eternal.
The first time I really studied and thought about Solomon and what he had to say was on a road trip with my hubby. I was reading a book and he had his earphones in listening to music when he told me to listen to a song. It was a Shane & Shane (LOVE them) song titled "Over the Sun" and when I listened to it I heard "saw a man, wisest one" and then I said who is the man they are referring to when the song was over and he said "Solomon" ....get it "saw a man" = "solomon" ahahaha....true blonde moment. He just shook his head like he does so often in our marriage ;)...come to find out the song is based on Ecclesiastes and all Solomon had to say regarding this life. Looking in to the scriptures he says (2:17) "I came to hate life because everything done under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless" He pretty much meant that even though he had everything he could ever want- wealth, knowledge, respect and admiration from everyone, it meant nothing in the end. I think my favorite quote from this book is found in (2:3) "I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in the world". Most importantly he found that going after these things, (here's the clincher) v 17.... "is meaningless- LIKE CHASING WIND."
Chasing wind...have you ever done it? We would probably look like fools if we were all out there chasing wind, but the closest thing I can picture is my baby girl chasing bubbles. Like wind, bubbles only are there for a few seconds. You blow them, you run after them, and then they are gone forever. How appropriate to think of our life this way. We are born, we live our lives, and then we are gone from this world. Our lives are even referred to as "a vapor" and the more I think about it the more I realize what really matters while we have this short time on earth.
My prayer for my girls (and myself) is that we spend this life focused on what will make a difference eternally. A relationship with our Savior first and foremost, but love for others, investing in others and seeking after the things that are right, pure, and true. Society is constantly telling us what is "right' and it is scary. Having "stuff' is also SOOOOO important in our culture and many feel like it defines them. I'm not saying you can't have nice things, but when attaining these things in life is your drive and obsession, the emptiness that is never fulfilled by such will always remain. And we have such a beautifully descriptive picture from a man who chased after these things and realized the emptiness these things left. The funny thing is, after briefly studying Ecclesiastes for myself, it wasn't until I was in a small group with some ladies that someone else brought up the whole "chasing wind" phrase from the text and how the Lord was using it in her life. Totally had read it and never fully realized the incredible implications this simple phrase brings.
Jesus Christ came to give us life and life to the fullest. Not only an eternal life, but an earthly life full of joy, promise, and fulfillment. But these things only truly come when we turn this earthy life over to Him. Life is not promised to be perfect and as Christians we fail, many times. But the satisfaction and forgiveness we find in our Savior is beyond what the world will ever be able to comprehend apart from Him. May we always point the world to the forgiveness and the Love of a Savior that truly satisfies. May we not be another soul that spent their life chasing wind.
