Just A Little Longer

The Story

There’s a certain time of evening at the lake when the day feels like it should be over… but no one is quite ready to let it go.

The sun has slipped below the horizon. The lake has grown quiet. The last bit of color is fading from the sky, while the campfire glows brighter against the coming darkness.

Those are the evenings that inspired Just a Little Longer.

Our kids and grandkids love having campfires when they’re here, and there’s always that feeling of wanting to stay for one more log, one more story, one more laugh before finally heading inside.

While painting this, I realized how much that feeling reaches beyond one summer evening.

There are so many moments in life I wish I could hold onto and whisper…

Just a little longer.

Reflection 

There are moments we know are fleeting even while we’re living them.

Children grow. Summers pass. The people gathered around our fires change. And somehow the evenings that once seemed so ordinary become the memories we would give anything to step back into.

Maybe that is part of the gift.

God doesn’t ask us to hold onto every season forever. He asks us to be present enough to receive it while it’s here.

To notice the glow on their faces.

To listen to the laughter.

To sit beside the fire even when there are things waiting to be done.

And every once in a while, to say yes when someone asks—

Can we stay just a little longer?

Scripture 

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
-Psalm 118:24