Where has time gone?

Here it is, Labor Day weekend staring me in the face, and I'm wondering whatever happened to summer.  Not once have I been swimming with my grandkids; not once have my husband and I gotten on our bikes and gone for a ride; not once have we strapped on our hiking boots and taken a hike; not once have we put our canoe in the water; and not once have we taken a day trip for rest and relaxation. 

Instead, our weekends have been filled with extended family matters related to my mother-in-law, entertaining friends (moreso than family), hosting events at our home, and simply doing what needs to be done on the weekends when you work full-time.  And now summer is coming to a close, and I feel as if I've missed it.

Sadly, we got caught up in a flurry of activity, some of which we couldn't control but some of which we could control, and we sacrificed time with our families for it.  I've had to repent of my part in this, and I'm seeking this weekend to reconnect -- to go swimming with my grandkids; to plan for a trip to one of the local lakes where we can plop the canoe in the water, swim and play in the sand with the little ones, and take turns paddling around the lake; to plan a day hike with the older grandkids; to plan a day hike with just me and my husband; to sit back and relax and watch the butterflies and the birds in our back yard.  Sometimes I feel as if I spend so much time tending the flowers that I often don't take the time to enjoy them. 

Today, I hurried home for lunch after dropping some books off at my church, and while I was eating, I wandered through the flower beds and saw the biggest tiger swallowtail butterfly that I have ever seen!  So gorgeous, bright, and large!  Had I not gone home, I would have missed this fragile creature, but it again reminded me that we are here on this earth for only a brief time, and that butterfly was once a caterpillar but can now fly, and likewise, we are in our 'caterpillar' stage on this earth until given our heavenly wings.  Butterflies live only a few short weeks, and comparatively, we live a much longer time, but when looked at in the light of thousands of years, we are but a blink of an eye, a vapor in the wind, and then we are gone. 

I've learned that time is a commodity that we spend; often we waste time, or we spend it on meaningless stuff, or we burn it, or we relish and savor every minute of it.  I feel as if I've wasted much of my time this summer, and there's no way I can get it back.  It's gone for good.  But I can determine to allocate and spend my future time in more meaningful, more purposeful ways.  Babies will be babies only so long; toddlers will be entering kindergarten before we know it; elementary age kids will be middle-schoolers in the blink of an eye; and high-schoolers will be heading off to college before we can say goodbye.  So, yes, I regret wasting so much time these last few months (those minutes and hours over which I had complete control), but I do endeavor to spend my time wisely from this day forward. 

How about you?  Have you wasted, lost, or burned time?  Have you lost your connections with family due to 'busyness'?  If so, stop and listen to your heart, the hearts of your loved ones, and the heart of the Creator, and then hold time tightly in your hand, spending it on the things in life that matter the most.