I am writing as Mark and I are driving through Pennsylvania a couple hours away from home. It’s hard to believe that we dropped off John and Anna for their senior and junior years at Wake Forest. As someone told me long ago… the days are often long, but the years get faster and faster. That person was correct.
The routine of Team Crumpler packing up, driving down, loading in, and Team Crumpler (minus 2) driving home went off without complication. But, the whole process ended with another routine – a sick feeling in my stomach, swallowing hard, watery eyes and a quiet first hundred miles of the trip home. Sure, we are proud of our kids, but I still grieve the season of summer – where there was more time together to enjoy the young adults they have become. These precious moments are getting scarcer as the kids get older.
Fall may not technically begin until the end of September, but my friends, times are changing. Kids are back at school. Grown-ups are returning to their schedules. Boats will find their way out of the water and pools will soon be closed. Time flies.
Moses had a great word for us as we think about the change of seasons and the speed that days and years come and go.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
It’s a great prayer to borrow. Ask God to help you understand that your days are limited, that seasons change, that you will only change diapers so long, you will only have the kids at home for so long, that you will only get to use your God-given gifts and resources so long, that you will only be this side of heaven for so long.
Maybe that prayer will change what you do the last days before school, or before you retire, or the way you tell a neighbor about your relationship with the Lord, or the way you celebrate your anniversary, or invest your resources.
I count it a joy to number days with you — and can’t wait to see you Sunday. Mark will continue our series, We Will… with We Will…. Tell. Certainly, if we number our days with wisdom, we will tell others about the One who gives us each breath of every day.
Your once again “empty- nest” pastor and friend,
Dr. Marnie Crumpler, Senior Pastor