Changes over time

I live around Sugar Land, on the outskirts of Houston. My neighborhood is filled with middle-class people who spend their time running about or on the golf course. I have my own vehicle which I constantly drive into Sugar Land for church. If you live about this area, you know of the constant construction, the many changes, and the knowledge that if you leave the area for even a few months, you will not recognize it when you return. It is the things like this, the new stores, offices, and other buildings that we see the most. To us, they seem to affect our lives. "If they don't build that new DQ on the road to my office, I dont know what I will eat for breakfast." or "Look! They just opened a new Wal-mart right next to us! Lets go shopping!"

In the world we live in today, it seems that we do not care as much for nature as our grandparent's generation did. We only approach the subject when the gas prices get to high, or milk is no longer 2 for $5. I must confess that I am guilty of that.

We have lived in our current house for over ten years now. As a child, the back yard was an exciting place. There was a swing set back there, one that we sold, that my brother and I played on constantly. We have a pool with diving board. We have a dog, and there is a ton of room , we could easily fit two more pools into our yard. It was the perfect yard for a child. As I got older, things began to change. I no longer went into the backyard. My summer was spent training, with any spare time I hung out with my friends.

The other morning, I went out to my backyard and I was shocked. One tree I used to be able to jump up and grab the branch, now, I couldnt reach the branch with a step ladder. Yet in my mind's eye, the tree was still an arm's length away. We havent cut our grass in a while, so our yard has a fluffy bed of weeds and monkey grass, the pool just sits there. The garden where my dad once grew tomatoes, eggplant, corn, strawberries, and beans is overgrown with weeds, no longer fertilized. I couldn't see how all this had happened. Where had the time gone.

This morning in church, my pastor talked about the epidemic of today. How it affects our lives, especially the lives of teenagers. We spend so much time online, facebook, myspace, Wii, movies, and reality tv, that many of us dont even have a hobby. We havent picked up our rollerblades from when we were kids. We play baseball with remote sensors and the only bike we ride, is the exercise bike at the gym. We have forgotten that a few years ago, we didnt have texting or internet. How did we become overcome in such a short time. Is this becoming an idol for us?
There are a group of boys that play almost daily in my cul-du-sac, they are out there for hours, poking at ants, playing football, and racing eachother around. My first response when they began was that if they hit my suburban, they were going to be in a whole lot of trouble. Then I thought, wow! how amazing is it that they have parents who encourage them to be outside, they are not watching tv, or on the computer, or playing video games. They are enjoying the world that God gave them.

I have a challenge for those of you who read this blog. I want you to connect with the past. Dust off your rollerblades and see if you can still stay up. Go into your backyard. Eat dinner with your family around the table with no tv on. Bring out a board game and play it through. Go swimming in the pool and enjoy what God has given you. Take the time to admire the beauty that is all around. It changes every day!