Another year has come and gone. What?!? My mind races to recall what happened this year. “Was that this year … no … that was last year.”
If you have children, you know exactly what I am talking about. Your child was born yesterday. Today they are in sixth grade. Tomorrow, they are graduating high school.
Looking back to when my children were young, we were working hard to pay the bills, making it from day to day, month to month. Our house was a zoo and life was a blur. “Just get through the day.” That was our mantra. We changed diapers for seven years straight. And now … my son is 25 and teaching middle school. My daughter is about to graduate from Texas A&M, and my youngest will graduate from A&M in a year. Where did the time go?
Before I totally depress you, let me say that life has been good. My family and I built some incredible memories over the years (not the diaper part). But it didn’t always come easily. We often had to work at family harder than we did our jobs. We never regretted taking the effort to take that “one more minute.” Nice vacations were not always affordable, but trips to the park cost us only our time. Still, when I was in the middle of the mess, I spent an inordinate time wishing for the current stage to pass and the next to begin. It was so difficult for me to slow down and relish the moment.
This is why I love camp so much. Every day is packed to the brim with something, even if it seems like a bunch of nothing. If we are not insanely active, then we are knee-deep in conversation. Every hour counts. Every day matters. The harvest is abundant. We are forced to relish the time we have. That’s why the memories are so deep. Looking back on my time in camp, I remember things from 30 years ago in ridiculous detail because they were that impactful in my life. I often tell my staff, “Camp has the longest days and the shortest weeks.” Yes, even at camp, the clock ticks and time sneaks by.
As cliché as it sounds, I encourage each of you to live in the moment. I don’t have to remind you that life on this earth is fleeting. And although we may find temporary satisfaction in our daily lives, we will never fill that void of our lives with earthly things. The great C.S. Lewis put it concisely: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” God is on our side. He is good.
Happy New Year! Camp will be here soon! Have a great 2018.