Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, it might be fun to go back in time (for a short time) when life moved at a slower pace. We'll leave behind: high speed internet, cellphones, telephones, TV, GPS and electricity. Back then, daily chores were milking cows, gathering eggs, cleaning coop and barn, slopping pigs, feeding bucket calves, hoeing garden and plum trees, cooking meals from scratch and, in autumn, making jams, jellies, canning fruits, vegetables and meat, making soap, making some of our clothes or remaking hand-me-downs. Ah, a stroll down memory lane - a time to reflect and remember.

Our ancestors worked very hard. Reflecting on the past isn't bad; it's like a "blast from the past!" Back then, big events could include neighbors for butchering day, branding day, and even tying or quilting quilts.

Remember churned butter, delicious slathered on fresh, warm bread? What a treat. Washing clothes on scrub boards (hard work) though line-drying wasn't so great in the frigid winter when clothes actually froze. Be careful, don't bend the legs of union suits (long-johns) or they'll break.

Autumn butchering day, usually shared with neighbors - our place, then their place - what fun, but maybe the best treat, while strolling down memory lane, would be to make and eat homemade ice cream with neighbors. Farm/ranch work was physically very hard but somehow, we seemed to have more time to visit, to talk, and look each other in the eye; we seemed to care more about and for each other, back then.

Numerous verses in Your Word talk about neighbors; in Leviticus alone, neighbors are mentioned 10 times, the best being, Leviticus 19:18b: "... but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord."

Thank you, Lord, for good neighbors, and for memories. We can't go back in time, but we can be good neighbors. Thank You, Lord, for a lovely autumn!

Love, Mara