"Sieze the Day!"

I'm pretty sure everyone knows where the phrase, "Seize the Day," comes from. Carpi Diem. Latin. Very, very old.

It is used a lot this time of year. Graduation "season" is upon us. As a 12th grade Sunday School teacher, I know all too well what "season" it is. My refrigerator has become a bulletin board of sorts with various graduation ceremony announcements and invitations to celebratory parties.

The grads are full of hope and optimism in this "season" of their lives and, at every turn, they are being encouraged to "seize the day."

As I wrote in my earlier blog, "this too shall pass." Those of us who have been there, done that and have the t-shirt (or two, and maybe long sense added to the rag pile) know this to be true. All the excitement and promise of the recent high school graduate will fade into another "season" of life: collegiate or work responsibilities.

With the certainty of the "passing" of this or ANY season, the call to "seize the day" should take on an urgency. What is it that we should be doing on this "day" of this "season?"

My months of May have become increasingly busy as my girls have gotten older. Recitals for piano (Riley) and ballet (Piper), recognitions, end-of-school-year parties, Mother's Day, birthdays, appreciation gifts for teachers - my to-do lists are really out of control. This "season" I find myself in is quickly becoming overwhelming.

Yet, each day, every morning is a new beginning, a precious gift from a loving Father who desires us to live in the joy and peace His presence with us brings.

Father, forgive me for being so caught up in this "season" that I find myself too busy, too self-centered, too circumstance-focused that my relationship with you has suffered and I am missing the things YOU have called me to in this "day" that you have given me. 

Dear Sisters, are you missing blessings because you are using your "season" as an excuse? I know I have. Or maybe your "season" is causing you to cling more tightly to our Father, than ever before. Whatever the "season," "seize the day" and know you have been prayed for today . . .