Do you ever find yourself so busy with the mundane things of life that you cannot get accomplished what you really want to? It seems to me, and perhaps it’s because I am getting older by the day, that the hours, the day, the weeks and the months, even the years fly by, and it’s hard keeping track of them.

This month, Ron and I celebrate 54 years of marriage – hard to believe! It seems to us that it was yesterday we walked down the aisle as the newly pronounced husband and wife. I mentioned to Ron yesterday that I was remembering the beautiful beach where we spent our honeymoon, and the sweet little Scottish family we met there.

Some of you know that in year number one, Ron started college at Andrews University, two weeks after our wedding. I worked full time as a nurse and Ron worked full time as well as attending college part time. We were two people from two entirely different backgrounds with attitudes and temperaments that were as different as night from day! While the love for each other was definitely what kept us together, our differences along with the stresses of school and work added to our angst.

After a year and a half at Andrews, we transferred to New England and Ron to Atlantic Union College. My health was an issue that kept me miserable and Ron wondering why in the world he had married me, I’m sure. Ron’s progression through college was complicated by the necessity for us to have our children then, after three years of marriage, or never. How I remember those days babies adding to the strain of work and school. But oh how we loved them! Again, it seems like yesterday they were babies in our arms. Now they are grandmothers themselves, and of course, that makes us great-grandparents!

Now in our sunset years, our circumstances have rapidly changed.  The traveling for our ministry is over, but God’s call on our lives remains! Just the other day, we were in the car and Ron had a brainstorm. While it is now hard for him to talk, especially for long periods of time, he still struggled to pass on his idea to the three of us straining to hear him. No doubt, it’ll be a concept that is developed over the next few months, and added to what we share, either in book form or on the internet. Often we recall our days in our precious” bus” and one or the other will say, ”I really miss the bus!” And we do!  Oh my, the experiences in that “home away from home” have given a book full of memories; God’s interventions and the times of seeing North America as we drove.

So why am I writing about time today? Perhaps it’s to counsel you, our readers, to grab hold of the hours and days, and make the most of them, because you really never know what tomorrow will bring to you. Ron used to say to me, “When we are old and gray, we may not have two nickels to rub together, but one thing is for sure. I plan to give you lots of experiences, seeing the world and serving God together, so that when we are old, and sit in two rockers, we can reminisce over our experiences. Those memories will give us much pleasure.”

And he was right! We have a lovely little place in the beautiful mountains, with scenery that is breath-taking! We have two Lazy-Boy rockers, and a brain full of memories, which we frequently share! And they do bring us pleasure, along with some sadness that we cannot carry out our ministry as we used to. So the moral of the story is:

Enjoy the hour and the day. Eat what feels good to you and will keep you healthy, laugh with your friends, choose in-depth communication with your spouse, worship and pray together often, and give yourself time to do the things that add to your joy. And then you too, will have a treasure trove of memories to keep you company and give you a laugh or a tear as you age, far more rapidly than you would like to.

God bless!

Ron and Nancy