To The Readers

As I get older, time is no longer measured in minutes and hours but in weeks and months.  It seem that it was just a few weeks ago that I was preparing for the New Year 2012.  This phenomenon of time passing swiftly by started the day I graduated from high school. The clock starting running faster as the amount of responsibility grew and the time required to complete important tasks took priority over just living life without direction or purpose.  As the family grew and jobs and education begin to take a major toll on life the days seemed shorter.  The older I became the weeks quickly flew by and years are coming and going at such a rapid rate that I am just getting 2012 down and now will need to learn to use 2013.

This year has been a year full of activity.  I started the year off being elected as Town Board president-- this has been an interesting experience in government responsibility.  I continue to do work for the Wayne Township Classroom Teachers Association handling teacher issues; this has become an important part of my life helping teachers deal with the stress and changes in education.  As the caretaker of Maple Lawn Cemetery each month of the passing year brought home the reality of how short life can be.  For me, time and energies are running short as the loads of projects and tasks continue to increase.   Retirement is not what it is cracked up to be.  There was a time in my life that I felt there was nothing really important to prove but today as I look down the short end of the road of life there are many things that I would like to accomplish before life ends.   As the years rapidly fly by I wonder if I will be able to make a major impact, not only my family, but my community and church as well.  

I believe that life is a journey best traveled with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  My life has been filled with lessons, hardships, heartaches, joys, celebrations and special moments that changed my outlook on life.  The road I have traveled has not been smooth but neither has it been as difficult as it could have been without the leadership and guidance of the Spirit.  The more I learn the less I feel I know.  No doubt by the time I reach the end of life I will look back on my journey and wonder how I was able to survive.  As I stumbled through life there have been times that my poor choices have become blessings in disguise.  What I have learned from the experiences of life is there will always be two choices.  We can focus on the fact that things did not go the way we wanted and life just passes us by.  The other choice is we can make the best of what is a bad situation and learn from the experience.  

Time stops for no one, and if we allow ourselves to focus on the poor choices and negative influences in our life we will miss some amazing experiences that life has to offer.  I will never be able to go back into the past and change the heartaches, hardships, poor choices and missed experiences but I can make the best of what remains on this journey of life so that when the end comes I will have no regrets of the life I have lived.

I will prepare for whatever 2013 has for me and be thankful that the LORD has granted to me the length of life that I have lived.  I would encourage you to allow God to direct your life.