So, I was driving down highway 35 on my way to Bigfork. The speed limit is 70 mph on most of that road. I got to thinking about how if I took my eyes off the road for a mere moment to adjust the radio or try to pick something up as I drove that at my car going 70 and the oncoming traffic going 70 would equal 140 mph effectively ending in a crash that could wipe me or someone else out. I don't know why I was thinking about this except as I noted just how close each opposing car was to my own, it seemed like mere inches at times...one slip of the steering wheel, just one wrong move so to speak and it would be all over. All over. What would be all over? Life as I currently know it. How I relate to those around me, my husband, my son, my brothers, my parents, my friends, my church- would be a shadow, a memory. This life is truly a vapor as the Bible observes, here today and gone tomorrow. The life hereafter, I suspect, will be more life like than anything I have ever know thus far- More real than I could have imagined it to be.
I am not afraid to die, well, let me rephrase that-- I am afraid of the process of dying, the physical pain or method of passing from this life to the next and the thought of having to say good bye to those I love and those who may be saddened to see me go...but I am looking forward to that day when I shall see Him face to face. I cannot wait to shed this body that is saddled with the cares of this world, the pain of a body that sees more and more years added to it and the tears, frustrations, regrets that weigh a soul down. I am looking toward the day where I shall be truly free in every sense of the word, some days, it cannot come soon enough and yet I know it is in God's perfect time. I can relate to Paul when he vacillated between staying here and going there. I see more and more everyday that I long for home, my true home and yet also want to run the race marked out for me well and to be there for those that are important to me.
Yes, while I am here, I need to be all there, present, appreciating every moment and as our Pastor said today- don't miss one moment of the gifts that God has to give everyday. Don't let the discomforts, the inconveniences or the pain of our life allow us to be blinded to the joys, the fellowship, the natural wonders and gifts of a sunset or a waterfall or simply a spring rain or any other of the myriad of treasures God gives us each day. What about a friendship, a kind word, laughter, communion with another. It is so easy to get sidetracked and miss all that God has for us in each moment of our lives...
So, if I have not said how much I appreciate my family, my friends, all those who have encouraged me, took the time for me, believed in me, befriended me, then let me say it now-- thank you, I do not want anything to be left unsaid before that vapor called my life turns into a fading mist and I am finally reach my home, the home I have spent my life looking towards and waiting for...see you when you get there, what joy unspeakable that will be!!
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