Life Was Easier When....

Quite often as I scroll through Facebook or Instagram and see pictures of people with new babies or toddlers or school age children or teens, I often wonder how they feel about that particular season of their life.  I know as we move through midlife that we often look back to our childhood and say, "life was so much easier then."  But it really wasn't.  Or was it?  And maybe, you have on occasion (as I have often) said "life will be better (or easier or richer or whatever positive) when such and such occurs.  If you haven't figured that out yet, let me assure you that this is not the case.  But I thought for a while and got to reviewing life up to this point.....

As as little girl I was always in a hurry to grow up.  (Now I wonder why because being a grown up is not all fun and games and no matter your age there is always somebody that tells you what you can and can't do!)  But as I look back on those times, life was easier when Momma and Daddy made all the decisions.  I didn't know it then but what a blessing to just go about my day and never worry about food or shelter or clothes.  They took care of everything for me.  Yes, life was easier when I was a child.

Then I got to be a teenager!  My oh my!  How I had awaited those years!  I could wear makeup and date and drive the family car (didn't have my own car till I was a junior in college!).  And still, Momma and Daddy not only took care of everything but they also set the boundaries.  I had one of those horrible things called a curfew (unfortunately for my sons I decided that was a good thing so they had one too!!).  We didn't have cell phones so if I was going to be late I'd have to find a pay phone (and hope I had a dime) to call and let Momma know.  Because the one thing I knew I did not want was for Daddy to drive to town to look for me!!  But teenage years can be tough.  Boys could be mean and girls meaner.  Dreams didn't always come true and sometimes if you didn't mess up well enough on your own, somebody would invent a story to help you on a downward spiral.  But all of that doesn't seem as important now as it did then.  Yes, life was easier when I was a teenager.

Fast forward a few years and I finished my first degree and got married (not in that order  ha ha) and started to work and then started a family.  I taught a while then stayed home to raise the boys.  Mark worked and made the living and I changed 2 sets of diapers and rocked babies and played games and read books and watched The Elephant Show (are you singing Skidamarink now?) and did my own thing.  But I couldn't wait for the boys to get potty trained and self sufficient and not have to hear Momma a thousand times a day.  And, yes, GFL, I couldn't wait for them to get grown and out of the house.  But even though they required a lot of attention, we had fun and I have good memories and only rarely did I have to wonder where they were.  Yes, life was better when I was in my 20s.

Then the boys became teenagers.  And how I loved that age!!  There was lots of racket all the time with guys in and out of my house.  But then they got a driver's license and I couldn't be with them all the time.  Again, they had no cell phones so I couldn't track their phone to know where they were.  But, MOST of the time they were where they were supposed to be and came home on time bringing others home with them at times.  And they would go spend the night at the hunting camp and Momma would cook them a huge breakfast and they only got in bad trouble one time.  Great memories.  Yes, life was easier when the boys were teens.

Too soon they went away to college.  And from college to a job.  And they were on their own.  And they fell in love a time or two.  And they had their hearts broken.  And I couldn't fix it.  And that was hard.  But they were happy most of the time and employed and paying their own bills and would still come and visit and we'd laugh and watch tv and talk about important things and nothing at all.  My nest was empty but my heart was full.  Mark and I were healthy and able to go and do whatever we wanted to without worrying about somebody looking for me (although one night one of the boys did call at 10--we now had cell phones--and asked what we were doing out so late!)  Yes, life was easier when the boys grew up.

Today, our family has grown by 2 daughters that I adore and 3 grandchildren that fill my heart and we are busy all the time.  Mark and I still laugh over the same things we did in high school and talk to each other in silly ways like we did when we were dating.  And we get to enjoy watching the grandchildren and laugh and laugh when one of them does something to drive their daddy crazy that was exactly what their daddy did to drive us crazy.  And our hearts just grow with each addition to the family.  We get quality time with our grandchildren and sometimes the wives even send their husbands home and tell me to tend to them a while.  And that is such a blessing.  I have a job I love with people who are fun to be with.  Mark works a dozen different jobs it seems but we still find time to sit and watch tv or sing or laugh or--one of our favorite things--watch high school football.  And we don't have the finest everything but we have enough because God is enough and He supplies our needs.  So, I guess I can say, yes life is easier right now.

There have been some bad things along the way, deaths and trials and sorrow that we all face in life.  But that is ok.

In July, God willing, I will begin a new season of my life.  And I may say to you that life was easier when I worked full time.  But, I pray that I will be able to say--Life is easier now than ever before.

Where Can I Hide from You?

Psalms 139:7-10 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

This past week Bro. Billy Little referenced these verses during the service.  I smiled a little when I turned my Bible to these scriptures because they had long been underlined.  I'm not exactly sure when I marked them, but they are verses that I have turned to over and over again.  In good times these verses remind me that God is always right there with me.  In bad times these verses remind me that God is always right there with me.  And with you too.

Each and every one of us go through times in our lives where we feel that we are in the depths of hell.  Loved ones are sick; bills are overdue; people die unexpectedly; jobs are lost;  marriages are struggling; kids are headed down the wrong road.  We have all been in those times when we felt like God had forgotten we exist. Like we were so far separated from Him that we could not feel His spirit.  Times when we longed to feel His peace.  But these verses remind us that even in those times, those terrible times, that God was right there with us. His right hand was holding us all the time!

So, if today you are feeling that you are so feeling you are somewhere that God can't reach you, remember these verses.  I don't know what the remainder of this day holds, much less what lies ahead tomorrow or next week or next month or 10 years from now.  Except this one thing--no matter where I am, no matter what I'm going through, God is ever with me.  What a comfort that is.  :)