Friday, October 26, 2012

If we could turn the page early

On Wednesday, I was shocked to hear of the sudden death of one of our prominent citizens of our town.  This is the second shocking passing in the last six months.  Immediately, their entire families' lives changed.  I cannot imagine the grief and pain brought on by the sudden news they all experienced and are experiencing.

So often in our lives we live day to day always assuming we have tomorrow, too.  And so often we put off doing something until tomorrow...that old cliche comes to mind... "Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today". And, yet, we all live like we have unlimited time.  And I suppose, in some instances, people live without the hope of tomorrow.  Somehow, we have to learn to live in between those pages.

This morning I was reminded of a lesson Ayden and I did in homeschooling a few years ago.  I remember reading the lesson in disbelief. Ayden and I spent quite a bit of time discussing the lesson and I left it feeling saddened about my lack of faith in the validity of it. I continued on with my day often pausing to think and ponder.  And I decided I would just accept it in faith and move on. Well, the next day came and we turned the page... and there right in front of my eyes was the rest of the story and the validation of the lesson.  If we had only thought to turn the page the day before, we would have had our answer. 

Unfortunately, in life, we don't get to turn the page to the next day early.  And that leaves us with choices in how to live each day.  People always say to live each day to it's fullest.  But do we? We always assume we have tomorrow.  And, yet, whether we live to 49 or 109, we should honestly and truly just live each day to the best of our ability.  I always wonder when we lose someone suddenly... Were they happy with how they behaved leading up to that moment? We will never know.  But as I grow older I think more and more often about how I live each day..and most importantly...how I treat people in my life.

If we could turn the page and see ahead in time..... this is the age-old dilemna.  What would change if we could take a peek ahead and then live out each day? or would we eventually abuse our peek ahead? Or if I don't get to turn the page to tomorrow, what will people know about me when I am gone?

I will choose to live each day as God instructs us in Ephesians, through Paul, to the best of my ability.

Ephesians 4: 1-6
4 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
 
I know it's unhealthy to live and dwell in past mistakes but, we can turn the page back and always make better choices.
 
Live each day in faith and walk worthy and work out your faith
God Bless,
love,
Monica