Editorial Dec/Jan

And we, who probably spent most of our childhood not really believing that there could ever be a turn-of-the-century year 2000 are nearly a decade into it. Back then, in my childish thinking, I remember wondering if things would be different if we saw the other side of it, and they are, but not profoundly. Change is usually slow and subtle, with small bursts now and then that cause a momentary jolt to the routine, but then even the change becomes what we consider "normal."Using the Hinkson family in this "for instance," 70 years ago, Mom and Dad were kids. 50 years ago, Mom and Dad Hinkson were still a young married couple with young children. 30 years ago, they were young grandparents to the offspring of three of their married children. 20 years ago they retired to Florida. 10 years ago saw their grandchildren starting families. In with the additions of people, along the way we've had to face the last day of folks we knew from childhood as the scene scrolls across time and the seasons continue to cycle. We passed through our childhoods, experienced being young married couples with little ones, watched our children get married and have their own children. Bobby heads and Teri Lyn pulls the caboose of the train of Hinkson grandchildren. On the other side, Billy hit the ground running 6 months before Bobby and Noah John has a long way to adulthood since he's only 3 this year. It's a longer span, but there just aren't as many names to remember on my genetic side, besides the fact that Jeff and I contributed most of them!So we were kids once. Then we married, and got used to it. Then the children came and we grew used to the rhythm of a child or children. Some of us have the privilege of being used to the rhythm of having grandchildren around or at least in our consciousness always and in our routines sporadically. And here I am on that often used theme of time marching on, tick by tick and day by day, seeming to speed up as I grow older, just like I heard older folks saying when I was young and time seemed to stretch forever.Speaking of time, it's rushing by and the clock tells me I have to find a phone booth to change into my Super Nurse costume. Don't worry, I don't believe a word of it - it's only a joke we use around here when we're busy and running from one thing to the other, changing clothes to fit the need. Mary has her dance costumes, Katie has her dog-caring costumes, and I have my people helping costumes (better known, as Katie's are, as scrubs). Believe me, I pray often to grasp His wisdom - He who spread out the heavens with His own hand and established the earth - as I work in what I still feel is a good profession with folks in varying degrees of need in my own community.If we have the privilege of experiencing 2009, I hope it's a good one for all of you!