“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Last November, I wrote about the gift of an hour.  Now we have to give it back.  You’d think losing an hour would be a real downer, but Daylight Savings Time has a redeeming quality: it’s a sign that spring is coming.  In light of that good news, it’s hard to get too worked up about moving the clock ahead.  Time is fleeting, after all.

Back in the day, when the kids were little and we homeschooled, we had a really long timeline up on the wall, covering 1400 A.D. to 2000 A.D.   It wrapped around the dining room and continued down the hallway and back entryway.  When we moved to a different house, the timeline went all the way around our big open basement.  The kids added all kinds of visual reminders to the one-of-a-kind border depending on what they were studying, whether it was history, science or literature.  As the years went on, the timeline filled up and became a real work of art that summarized twelve years of educating four kids.  I found it ironic that our last kiddo joined the ranks in public school in 2000, the year our timeline stopped.  The day my baby walked down the street to his new school with his new backpack, I took down the timeline.  It was a very emotional day for me.  This is what I wrote:

“It’s the end of the line.  The end of the timeline, that is.  Six hundred years wrapped around our family room.  Four children’s educations wrapped around my heart.  K’s renaissance people and famous Americans….  S’s world wars and sports heroes….  A’s presidents and favorite authors….  J’s inventions and discoveries…  It’s all rolled up (I feel it in my stomach).  The wall is so bare (I feel it in my heart).  It’s the end of our line of time.”

Time is fleeting.  So losing one hour?  Not such a big deal!