8/11/2019 Clydene Overbey...A Long Hot Summer

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Page 1B - - THE SPECTATOR, Ozark, Ark., Wednesday, September 10, 2014

A Long Hot Summer by Clydene Overbey

This summer has been a

long hot summer like the

ones from my early child-

hood. Bright, sunny, hot

days and warm, windless,

still summer nights. A cool

 break at just the time I’m

thinking I can’t stand thisdarn heat another minute.

Almost every evening

 before I go to bed, I spend a

great deal of time thinking

and praying. I sit here where

I can gaze out at the night

sky and a few nights ago I

stopped for a moment and

turned my gaze upward to-

ward the stars. It always

amazes me when I stop and

look at all those stars. It ac-

tually sends chills through

me when I ponder what I

see. The vastness of the

universe, the billions of stars, the planets, all com-

 bine to remind me just how

very small I am.

I feel insignificant and

unimportant, but that’s not

a bad thing. It’s a good thing,

a very good thing for all of 

us to be reminded that we

are not that important. Even

the rich and powerful, who

walk and live high above me

enjoying the benefits of 

 power, privilege and money;

these mighty ones are just

as trivial as the rest of us

compared to the awesome

grandeur of the universe.We are all just “drops of 

water in an endless sea.”

It comforts me to know

that no matter how crazy

things get, how bad things

seem to be, no matter what

happens to me that in the

end the universe is unfold-

ing exactly as it should. In

our daily lives we might not

think things are going our 

way; we might feel we have

not had a fair chance in life,

we might feel our luck has

not been good. But one

thing is for certain, tomorrowwill be what it will and not a

single one of us; neither the

meek nor the powerful can

change it. While that might

 be discouraging to some, it

is profound and comforting

to me. I know that I can pray

and have a talk with Jesus

and if He thinks need be, He

will change it.

And it occurs to me, as I

 ponder the universe and my

own existence, that our time

on this earth is so very lim-

ited we do not have time to

understand time at all.

While gazing up at themajesty of the stars and the

light from some of these stars

I get the feeling of the vast-

ness of God’s creation. And

I realize just how blessed I

am to be here to experience

the incomprehensible vast-

ness and splendid beauty of 

the universe; to perceive

time yet be unable to under-

stand it, humbles me.

I feel fortunate to be a

tiny part of the universe

even if my life amounts to

an insignificant grain of 

sand in the boundless enor-mity of it. I call it glorious

insignificance. I feel so

 blessed to have been born

and am able now to look so

far back in time in the light

streaming from stars that my

great-grandparents might

have gazed at leaves me

 breathless , awestruck, and

humble. And I realize that no

matter how smart any of us

may be, none of us can even begi n to comp rehend the

meaning of the universe or 

the meaning of time.

During my childhood

and my years in school I ea-

gerly awaited each year’s

long summer vacation. Sum-

mer vacation was the time

when the days stretched for-

ever before me. Each day of 

summer vacation was an

endless chain of hours cre-

ated especially for me to do

whatever I wanted, free from

teachers, books and bells.

But as each summer waned,I began to look forward to

autumn, going back to

school and being back with

my friends. Summer when I

was young seemed to last

forever. Summer seemed a bit

too long then.

As I grow older I notice

that compared to my youth,

months are beginning to

 pass like weeks used to and

years are passing like

months. It doesn’t seem fair 

that when we are young,

with our entire lives stretch-

ing before us, that time

 passes so slowly. Seasonslast an eternity. Days last

weeks and months last

years.

As we grow older and the

days remaining in our lives

grow fewer, than the days

which have passed, time be-

comes compressed and

 pass es so mu ch mo re

quickly.

We cannot change our 

 perceptions of time because

none of us will ever have

enough time to understand

time at all. Maybe that is a

very good thing. I’m surethat the universe is just ex-

actly like it is supposed to

 be. And time will always be

only what we perceive it to

 be.

I know I have Jesus in my

heart and His angels sur-

round me. I am not afraid of 

what lies ahead and what lies

 behind doesn’t amount to a

hill of beans or even a box of 

rocks.

 Ecclesiastes: 3: To ev-

erything there is a season,

and a time to every purpose

under the heaven; A time to

be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time

to pluck up that which is

 planted; a time to kill, and 

a time to heal; A time to

break down, and a time to

build up; A time to weep,

and a time to laugh; a time

to mourn, and a time to

dance; A time to cast away

 stones, and a time to gather 

 stones together; a time to

embrace, and a time to re-

 fra in from embrac ing; A

time to get, and a time to

lose; a time to keep, and a

time to cast away; A time torend, and a time to sew; a

time to keep silence, and a

LITTLE MISS FRANKLIN COUNTY OF 2014 is Maci Ellis (right). Other pageant winners Saturday were (L-

R): Top raffle sales, Hailey Williams; Audience Appeal Award, Madalyn Holder; Miss Congeniality, Abriona Muniz;

fourth runner-up, Lynlea Schwartz; third runner-up, Marlee Cagle; second runner-up, Lauren Bailie; Parade Award

and first runner-up, Jaydon Davis.

JUNIOR MISS FRANKLIN COUNTY WINNERS – Malea Smith (right) was selected 2014 Junior Miss Franklin

County here Friday night. She also won top raffle sales. Other winners (from left) were: Audience Appeal Award,

Keticia Holder; Parade Award, Shyanne Miller; fourth runner-up, Maggie Jackson; Miss Congeniality and third

runner-up, Jade Boen; second runner-up, Emma Reardon;and first runner-up, Hattie Martin.

‘Take It to Go’ food

on AETN marathon

AETN (Conway) –This

time of year everyone has

something to do and some

 place to go. That means tak-

ing the time to make a

healthy, home-cooked meal

the family can enjoy be-

comes very difficult.

Learn how to create

simple, healthful, flavorful

meals and a unique bag to

take it all with you.

Sara Moulton, Laura

Theodore and Pati Jinich are

the chefs who are up for the

challenge! Not to be out

done by our sewing maven

 Nancy Zieman.

See them all on “Take It

to Go” on the weekend mara-

thon at 6 a.m. Saturday, Sept.

13, and 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept.

14, on AETN.

time to speak; A time to love,

and a time to hate; a time of 

war, and a time of peace;

What profit hath he that 

worketh in that wherein he

laboureth? I have seen the

travail, which God hath

 given to the sons of men to

be exercised in it.