Life is fragile...

I am in the middle of treatments for three accidents that I was in last year. It was a long year and my recovery, from accident related injuries, has been slow. The hours I have spent working with insurance, getting my car repaired, going in for back and neck treatments, x-rays, an MRI...it has been a bit ridiculous. My first two accidents were pretty bad, in the split of an eye, I was stopped. My busy day had been redirected towards a new goal...getting myself back in a car that functioned and making sure I got my body back to "normal". In that one flash, all of my previous plans were side lined.

Last week, an individual, who attends Silver Creek Family, was in a serious accident immediately after church. Both cars were totaled and both parties had aid units who took them to Steven's Emergency. A Sunday afternoon, with the intent to do yard work, ended up in the ER. My friend is doing ok, she is recovering and hopes to be back up and running soon but in that moment, our frailty and vulnerability is very real. Life is short and we are so very fragile.

Last week, Michael and I took the boys to the San Juan Islands. We had days of sitting on the boat, cruising the beautiful waters and inlets, watching for wildlife, reading books, enjoying the beautiful weather...it was wonderful, restful and necessary. Our busy life, yet again, was put aside for just a week and we had the chance to connect as a family. Our trip into the San Juans is one of the highlights of our year! We love it up there and we look forward to the break that we get to enjoy.

All of our lives are crazy! We have so much to do, so much to accomplish, so many dreams and aspirations. All of these things are important and worthy of our effort but through car accidents and vacations and the ups and downs of life I am constantly reminded that we are fragile, we need to take deep breaths every day, we need to take time to tell our kids that we love them, we need to force ourselves to stop and admire God's beautiful creations and realize that our time here is short and He wants us to enjoy all that life brings.

I hope you are taking time for your family and friends and that you are finding time to slow down the pace and take advantage of our short but amazing summer. Plan to make time for your church family as well. Summers create a lot of inconsistency in attendance and we still have a full crew of volunteers to spend time with you and your kids.

Live every day to the fullest and don't ever forget that our lives are a gift from God and shouldn't be wasted!

God Bless You! I hope to see you at Family Camp!
Elizabeth Volz