growing up
Growing up
It’s Sunday afternoon, after another busy day at ‘work’. I’m reading another Karen Kingsbury novel at the caravan park overlooking the dam. The peace that this place gives me is one I cannot put down in words. Well it’s not the place per say, but the alone time with my Prince of peace. It’s my new hiding place, my mountain of solitude. So you can imagine the look on my face when I see my dad’s beat-up Isuzu bakkie making the curve towards the gate. The curses of living in a small town.
They drive up to where I’m parked and make small talk. My dad, understanding my need for time alone, drives my sisters to the play area. She jumps off and heads for the swings, he slowly follows behind. I smile, realizing how the years are catching up with him. A young white boy decides to join them and dad takes turns pushing them. They squeal with joy and excitement, mixed with a little fear the higher and higher they go.
I look on with envy, wishing that I too could forget all my worries and bellow with joy while being pushed on a swing. And then I remember that it wasn’t too long ago that I did. Story goes I used to swing so high on the swings at Pixyland Pre-school, I could see over the fence ad my parents' car approached to fetch me. My heart delights at the memory and the memory my dad is currently creating for my sister, because sooner rather than later, she too will be a young adult sitting alone in a park trying to make sense of life.
Just then a verse comes to mind: Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’-”
A very interesting word in this verse is ‘approach’. The word is defined as to come near to somebody or something in distance or time. So these years don’t just happen to me, the come near me, slowly but surely. I believed this because before reading the novel, I was pouring out my heavy heart to God, overwhelmed by certain aspects of my life. With this understanding, my heart began another prayer: may I remember my Creator all the more, may I approach Him more than these years do me.
It’s Sunday afternoon, after another busy day at ‘work’. I’m reading another Karen Kingsbury novel at the caravan park overlooking the dam. The peace that this place gives me is one I cannot put down in words. Well it’s not the place per say, but the alone time with my Prince of peace. It’s my new hiding place, my mountain of solitude. So you can imagine the look on my face when I see my dad’s beat-up Isuzu bakkie making the curve towards the gate. The curses of living in a small town.
They drive up to where I’m parked and make small talk. My dad, understanding my need for time alone, drives my sisters to the play area. She jumps off and heads for the swings, he slowly follows behind. I smile, realizing how the years are catching up with him. A young white boy decides to join them and dad takes turns pushing them. They squeal with joy and excitement, mixed with a little fear the higher and higher they go.
I look on with envy, wishing that I too could forget all my worries and bellow with joy while being pushed on a swing. And then I remember that it wasn’t too long ago that I did. Story goes I used to swing so high on the swings at Pixyland Pre-school, I could see over the fence ad my parents' car approached to fetch me. My heart delights at the memory and the memory my dad is currently creating for my sister, because sooner rather than later, she too will be a young adult sitting alone in a park trying to make sense of life.
Just then a verse comes to mind: Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’-”
A very interesting word in this verse is ‘approach’. The word is defined as to come near to somebody or something in distance or time. So these years don’t just happen to me, the come near me, slowly but surely. I believed this because before reading the novel, I was pouring out my heavy heart to God, overwhelmed by certain aspects of my life. With this understanding, my heart began another prayer: may I remember my Creator all the more, may I approach Him more than these years do me.
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