Summer of Children

We are almost half way through summer now. So I had to take a break and reflect a bit on this most splendid of seasons. It is sad at times how fast time goes by as we get older. I know God has his plan and his purposes, but it is hard not to recall with delight the seemingly endless summers of childhood.

Whether it was the carefree timelessness or just so many years being ahead of me still, time just seemed to take longer when I was younger. Everything lasted longer. Pop-sickles lasted longer. Car rides lasted longer. Even sunsets seemed to last longer. I wonder why that was? Regardless, it is something I never appreciated as much as I do now.

As a child, long days and warm weather meant much activity and many an adventure. Exploring in the woods, pretending they were ancient burial grounds. Catching frogs, turtles, crayfish, mice, worms, bugs, and of course fireflies. Running through vast fields. Climbing trees. Getting poison ivy. Collecting "rare" stones that I imagined were precious jewels. Picking vegetables from the garden and peaches from fruit stands. Jumping in mud puddles on rainy mornings. Building forts. Sun brewed iced tea. Collecting and trading baseball cards. Spotting dragon shaped clouds. Flying kites. Catching fly balls and hitting a homer. Dairy Queen. Every fish I caught seemed huge, and the really big ones were scary. Playing make-believe. Running so fast that I was on the verge of flying. Mid-day naps. And of course, watching the sun set. All in a good summer's day.

It is hard to not ask, "What happened?" Where did time go? Where did all these burdens, cares, sufferings, and anxieties come from? What changed?

I don't have all the answers, but I sure can see that children just "get" life.  And as we get older, we just "forget" life. Jesus reminds us of the special gift in being like a child. "And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" (Matt. 18:2-4)

As the days get shorter and night once again get longer, I long for the summers of years past. For lemonade and hooking lilly pads instead of bass. For dreams of far off expeditions and hand picked raspberries. There is something good about the care-free spirits of children that have yet to be weighed down by the burdens of life. And there is something good about that part of us that longs for endless days and eternal joy.

"And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, and its gates shall never be shut by day -- and there shall be no night there." (Rev. 21:23-25)