Hello ,

Exactly one month from today, I will walk my eldest daughter down the aisle, place her hand in the grasp of another man, walk onto the rostrum, and proceed to marry them. The reality of that just hit me today, and I'm finding myself wondering how a little girl that just showed me the space where she lost her first tooth could possibly be 20 and marrying the man of her dreams.  (That's them in the picture above...and I couldn't be more proud of her.)

I've been thinking a great deal about time as of late.  Time seems to move so quickly, and we often barely have a moment to catch our breath before the next BIG event comes along.  Perhaps it's the autumn that is inevitably upon us that makes me a tad nostalgic, but for a day or two I'd like to have my little girl back to where she was when she was 5 or 6.

I recognize that children are supposed to grow up, get married, find gainful employment (and all that good stuff,) but I often wonder how my wife and I will settle into a life without her around the house every day.  We've gotten so used to it, that I'm seriously trying to imagine just how empty the house might be once she is gone.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  Ecclesiastes 3:1

I'm thankful for the children that I have, but the older that I get, the more I am internalizing just how much I need to embrace the time that I have with them...and with those that I love. Time is precious thing, and when we spend it with God and those that are precious to us, it is never wasted!

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word