Life is fun. The last few days have been somewhat long days for us. The weekend started with finishing a project at my church and then going to another church to help with setting up a new sound system for them on Saturday morning. Then a memorial service for a friend of ours and some much needed family time on Saturday afternoon. Sunday led into a long night as we prepared and waited for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl. The eye passed just west of us giving us some strong winds and a lot of rain. As soon as the winds started to diminish, it was off to the hospital to work with no power, no internet, and limited phone service. That was not quite the weekend I had planned, but it was the weekend I needed.
Sometimes I feel like my life is like a hurricane. Lots of wind and a trail of debris from unfinished projects in my path. It is a lot easier to talk about doing things than it is to actually do them. In Romans 7: 15-20 Paul writes about knowing the good that he ought to do, but instead, doing what he knows he should not be doing. It is nice to know that I am not the only one that struggles with that. As I sat through the memorial service on Saturday and listened to the stories of this man’s life, it made me think about my own life. What have I done? What relationships have I formed? What will they say at my memorial service?
I have been working through a project to help me build a better foundation for my life. A foundation built on prayer, Bible study, and physical exercise. The project is to help me build habits in my life around these three things to strengthen the foundation on which to build the rest of my life. Some days the hurricanes come and distract me from what is important. Some days the hurricanes come and remind me of what is important.
We were fortunate through the storm. Lots of tree debris (we have over 20 trees in our yard, some now half the size they were a couple of days ago) and a wood fence that is now being propped up on both sides to keep the dogs in and in need of being replaced, but no damage to the house. We have a lot of cleanup to do around the house and the neighborhood. We were blessed to only be without power one day and it was restored yesterday evening. Now that the storm has passed, it is time to get some work done. This is the part that I enjoy the most. It is physically exhausting, but that is what I like. As much time as I spend talking, what I like to do most is get out and work. There is nothing like a good hurricane to remind me to quit talking and start doing. There is nothing like a good memorial service to remind me that the most important part of life is building relationships.
This week will be a lot of cleanup work. A time to get back on track and do the things that I know to be important. A week to reconnect and start building a new fence and some new relationships. A week to quit talking and start doing. Life is fun.
