Setting Sun

The sun is streaming in the west-facing windows. ‘Now the day is over, night is drawing near, shadows of the evening...’: a hymn from my childhood suddenly fills my mind. 

The day isn’t really over. I’ve still to make dinner, for a start. Ironing is over though (whew). Time in the garden weeding and picking up debris from winter and fall is done (well, for now). Cello practice is over (loved that!). Half the crossword is done but none of the paper read yet. 

When does a day end? How much can I cram into one 18-hour block? Sometimes quite a lot. Other times not so much. 

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day – the first year I will enjoy being a Gramma as well. Is there any work more fulfilling in life than parenting? With all its ups and downs (and just ask my friends, they’ll tell you we had them!), being the mother of our four children has been and continues to be an amazing privilege and a huge joy. 

I heard this week of a friend who is facing a health breakdown which looks to the doctors as if it’s insurmountable. And yet, you can never reckon without God. I know he doesn’t always intervene and heal miraculously, but sometimes he does. 

When will our ‘day’ be over? No way of knowing. My dad used to always say ‘it isn’t over til the fat lady sings’. Will there, I wonder, be a fat lady singing at the pearly gates, then? I imagine that many people are surprised to find they’ve died – so maybe the fat lady singing will be a clue...

Naw. Jesus said that he went ahead to prepare a place for us, and that he will come back to get us. I am not expecting a fat lady singing. I am expecting the Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Saviour to come at that moment, just for me. 

Wow. What a thought.