If We Could Freeze Time

Life is so changeable. What exists today may not be there tomorrow, and everything will certainly pass away one day. And that’s a good thing. We’d like the good things to last forever. But imagine if the bad and negative things went on forever. What a nightmare!

We cannot control time, neither slow it down nor speed it up. It marches on, bringing change to everything, including us. Autumn always brings these thoughts to mind, partly because our anniversary is in the fall. But also because autumn always seems like an ending.

Good Things

We take the whole month of October to celebrate our two anniversaries — not that we’ve been married twice, but because we celebrate two days. We met on October 1 and got married exactly one month later on November 1.

Since we didn’t have much time to date before the wedding, my Hubby has been making up for it over the years. So we celebrate the whole month, from October 1 through November 1! 😉 This year we’re celebrating 37 years!

On October 1, we enjoyed a lovely dinner by the sea in beautiful summery weather. We’re having a real Roman summer this year—what a blessing!

On November 1, we’ll be in the United States, celebrating on with our daughter and her family. Then we’ll go on to visit our son and both of our families, in NY, Michigan, and Ohio.

It will all be especially meaningful, considering the fact that, because of Covid, we haven’t seen our families in five years. (See my post: When the Way is Blocked.) This will be our best anniversary yet, and we’ll be wishing it would never end!

Even Good Things End

Visits with family are some of those good things that we wish would never end! Saying arrivederci to loved ones is always hard. Distance is not easy.

However, we know that even these good things will end, as all things do. So we focus on counting our blessings. We are grateful for the chats and video calls that allow us to see our loved ones’ faces. We try to focus on the special little things that happen every day. We choose to count our blessings rather than thinking about what we lack or wish we had.

If it were up to me, the good things would never end. But none of us is wise enough to decide whether something should last or pass.

If We Could Stop Aging

As we grow older, we often wish we could slow down the aging process with all its aches and pains. Here in Italy we have a saying: “Dopo i quarantanni, un malanno al giorno.” It means, “After 40, a new pain every day.” Most of us don’t really like gray hair or wrinkles either. We’d like to stop it all.

However, this presents a dilemma. If we could stop aging, we’d be stuck in this state forever. Children would never experience the joys of marriage and parenthood. Older people would be trapped by their illnesses and mobility issues.

We know the time will come to say ‘arriverderci’ to our loved ones, and we’ll wish we could freeze time before that occurs.

But if we could block time, neither we nor our loved ones would ever experience the blessings God has in store for us. We would never see our grandchildren get married or meet any great-grandchildren. We would also miss out on any of the new friends and adventures God has in store for us.

Indeed, time marches on and everything changes. And I’ll say it again; That’s a good thing.

It’s a good thing we’re not stuck in the past, enduring the hard times we’ve experienced. It’s also good that we can’t plan the future—just imagine the mess we’d make!

The past is the past. The former things were. They were ours to experience, and they left us with many hard-earned lessons and blessings to cherish. But we can’t live in their shadow.

Since today is all that we are promised, it’s important to focus on and appreciate it. That means rejoicing in the good things. But it also means embracing the things that seem bad, at least to us. We do so knowing that God uses those things to give us wisdom and strength.

As it says in Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Time passes inexorably — but we can be certain that, despite new difficulties, trials, and sad farewells, good will also come with it. God has good things in store for us. And He will guide us through this wilderness of life, even with all its sorrows, trials, and tribulations.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:18-19

📷 Image credits: Drink | Others are mine.