"Sensing Life"

My friend Alison and I were sitting at the soccer field yesterday afternoon just enjoying the sights and sounds of the kids around us playing soccer. I love watching them run up and down the field kicking and passing the ball. I love to hear them laugh and cheer each other on. I love to feel the warm sun on my face and feel a little breeze blow through my hair. I love to smell the grass. Have you ever heard a song on the radio and it bring back memories of a long ago time and place? Whenever I smell burgers grilling I remember back when I was a little girl and Daddy would be home, maybe for a week-end, hopefully longer. He was a truck driver and he was gone a lot of the time and when he was home in the summer we would always grill out burgers. I love to hear the big tractor-trailers going down the interstate and smell the diesel. I grew up around trucks and so those sounds and smells remind me of my Daddy and good times. Fresh cut grass reminds me of ball games and watermelon. Burning leaves reminds me of swinging on our swing set and jumping in to a big pile of leaves. Listening to my family talking and laughing in the evening is the sweetest sound. All of these sights and sounds and smells make me feel safe. I can smell onions cooking and it reminds me of being outside as a little girl and smelling Mama's supper cooking through the open windows. We didn't have air-conditioners back then. Lord! I'm old. But I don't care cause I don't feel old. I feel blessed and happy. I love life and I enjoy the "sense" of belonging. Of loving and being loved. We need to slow down people. We need to "sense" life. To smell life. To reach out and touch it and listen to the sounds of life. We need to taste life.We need to be thankful for all that the Lord has given us to enjoy. We need to practice life. This is just a rehearsal of what's to come. I Cor. 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. We can only imagine the sights and sounds of our glorious eternal home. I know there will be music. Hymns of praise and worship. There will be beauty beyond description. Streets of purest gold. Who knows..., there may even be watermelon! How about potato salad? I can dream, can't I?