Remember, Remember, Remember the Signs

...first, remember, remember, remember the Signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the Signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the Signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the Signs and believe the Signs. Nothing else matters. -- From The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis

Store shelves are stocked with back-to-school supplies, and hot, humid summer evenings have yielded a few degrees to the approaching autumn. Despite, or maybe because of, the fact that for the first time in sixteen years I will have no children starting back to school this fall, I'm sensing the first few notes of autumn melancholy begin to disquiet my soul. I'm tempted to give in to the sadness, to grieve the end of the sunshine and sand, the barefeet, the freedom, and the watermelon.

I miss buying school supplies.  I miss having children to buy back-to-school supplies for.  I'm haunted by the years of homeschool lesson-planning and the years that flew by all-too-quickly when I was so busy teaching my children that I forgot to take time to delight in them.  I wonder what will shape their lives when they are no longer framed by school calendars.

And I know that the best antidote to this melancholy is remembering the Signs of God's goodness, of His faithfulness.  The air isn't always clear around me, and my mind does get confused.  I forget that when things don't look as I expect them, my Father still loves me and always, always rejoices in doing me good.

So I continue to count the gifts:


 
439. …I will rejoice in doing them good…Jeremiah 32:41

440. Yellow trumpet vine attracting hummingbirds.

441. Son accompanying violinist during offertory.

442. Grandparent camping trip.

443. Son who notices rainbows and star-filled skies and sees them as good gifts from God.

444. Husband who makes Sunday morning Swedish pancakes.

445. Summer blueberries for pancakes.

446. Summer cornfields