As June comes to an end today and July begins tomorrow, I realize half of 2015 is over.  The summer solstice has passed, leaving me with the knowledge that the days are indeed getting shorting now in the northern hemisphere.

Days come and days go.  Quickly.  Almost without notice.  Without warning life moves on.

The heat of summer will soon give way to the colors of fall, the snows of winter, and we begin it all again.

We make New Year’s Day a celebration, anticipating it, blowing horns over it, somehow expecting the next year to bring happiness and change in some form or another.  Yet each new day, each month brings with it the dare to live life fully, to enjoy the bounty we have been given, to find joy in the moments.  We can squander the minutes or we can influence positively, encourage with our words, serve with a willing heart, and truly make a difference.

The news anchor said July is typically the hottest month of the year.  July is birthday month, for our country, for me and for the son born to Sweet William and me.  July signals a milestone anniversary for that son and his beautiful bride.  And I wonder where the time has gone.

I look at old pictures and remember.  We all look so young.  We were young.  In those years gone by, so much happened.  Joy.  Tears.  Birth.  Death.  Lord, teach me to number my days.

This coming birthday is a turning point for me.  It moves me toward a different decade.  My bones are well aware.  How will I finish out this life of mine?  How will I be remembered when I’m gone?  These are the questions that fill my mind.

The ending of June marks the half way point of the year.  It is another reminder of the brevity of life.  “What do people gain from all their labors?” asked the wisest man.  Heaven forbid that it is vanity, all vanity.

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity.  I’ve had many seasons, time for so many different experiences.  There are more seasons to come.  I want the rest of my life to count for something more than just a clicking off of the days.

And so I pray.  Lord, may this gift of life You have given only improve with age.