One good thing about being half a hundred is the occasional lucid moment.  Age seems to bring that out if you allow.  This isolated moment of clarity took place while looking at the forecast for the next several days.  I could not help but notice the high temperatures may be up to 105 or more next week.  My plans for the day changed at that moment.  Mowing the grass moved up from next week to this evening.  Some clouds remained along with a nice breeze blowing.  So my first step was a fast trip for a haircut which was overdue.  I returned home to get supplies so the yard could be cut.  It was one of the few times of escaping on my own.  Let me admit to sneaking off without my youngest for a change. 

It was indeed much cooler while mowing today.  Much better to get out with some wind blowing rather than waiting until the heat gets unbearable.  It was while riding my small tractor that I noticed my son in the garage.  He was just standing there watching me do my thing.  I waved while making a turn in the back yard.  He looked at me then walked back into the house.  My mind pondered on that moment while cutting what grass is left here.  I reached the conclusion that he was just making sure dad did not go somewhere else without him.  One time for his father to travel without him was going to be enough.  I did ask him later if he was making sure of not being left behind.  He answered in his own way to let me know that was the motive.  Then he walked away to make plans for our errand running tomorrow. 

Times may come in our lives when we feel neglected or even abandoned by God.  You are not alone in this experience should it happen to you.  Several of God's people in scripture talk about that process with blunt honesty.  We may think mostly of Job as the prominent example but there were more individuals than he who went through this.  Abraham surely felt this while taking his son up to the sacrifice.  David will lament in the Psalms about God's distance to him during trials.  Never forget that even Jesus would cry out His distress over God's presence at the end of the earthly life.  We are not alone even when we feel lonely.  Each of the above mentioned times serve as a reminder that God never does abandon us.  Our sense of neglect is meant to fuel a greater desire for His presence.  If you think or feel that God is not as close as previous times then you might even be glad.  You will at least be able to recognize the absence of that presence.  That is in itself a sign of life. 

My youngest came looking for me because he could not find me.  But do we go searching with a new hunger for God when it happens to us?  Our answer determines who we become when we do sense His activity.

Bro. Trey