Dandelion Days

Vivid is my recollection of Pop & Granny's.  Their place on Grace Street had two of the biggest trees I've ever seen with an exposed root system that provided something similar to a mountain climbing adventure.  Pigeons rested on the limbs waiting for bread crumbs.  Granny & I went into the hen lot and gathered eggs and picked figs until Granny's apron was strained with the weight of them.  Pop's flowering bushes were scattered throughout the property. Then, on the back part of the lot was a large open field filled with hundreds of dandelions!  How I loved to pick dandelions, lay in the grass and blow them until it looked like a blustery snow storm in the middle of summer.  What fun memories -- those  dandelion days. Psalm 1:3 says those who delight in God's precepts are "like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does he prospers." While those sweet days of leisure play a role in shaping us, a good portion of life is filled with days of struggle, which also mold and shape us.  It's dangerous to rush-through or to tarry-too-long in the dandelion days lest we find ourselves unprepared for the next phase of life.  There's no substitute - in times of leisure or struggle - for a faithfulness to know and meditate upon God's words.  The great truth of the psalmist is timeless: when we remain true to God's Word, faithfully applying Its principles - in all seasons of life - we are prepared for success! I'm thankful for the sweet memory of those dandelion days, but most thankful for the unchangeable truth of God's Word!