Are We There Yet?

Have you ever found yourself wondering when your "life" is going to begin? I have. What I did not realize, for many years, was that while I was thinking that I needed something, someone or some occurance to come along before I could really start living, my life was busy passing me by.

The off-throw of this kind of mentallity is that not only was life passing me by, people and occurances were also passing by without my appreciating them for the blessings that they were. There are some, I know, that passed by completely unnoticed.

Now that God has blessedly given me a good reality check, I mourn the loss of those years wasted in the foolish quest of what I believed to be a part of the magic "happy" formula.

One of the things I regret the most is that I did not completely treasure each and every moment of my children's young lives. When I think back on how many times one or the other of them tried to share something with me, and I did not take the time to listen, my heart breaks. Now, with them all grown and going about their own business, I long for them to want to talk to me.

Just as God's timing is not our timing, so our timing is not the timing of others. Life passes us by while we are ignorantly unaware.

When I am tempted to thrash myself with condemnation, God always reminds me of the things that I did not allow to be lost in my blind pursuit of happiness. While many moments with my children were lost, there are still precious many that I have to treasure. For this, I know I have only God's grace to thank. He constantly blesses me, in spite of myself.

Today, I received an email from my daughter's hostess in New Zealand. She talked about how her elderly mother-in-law was diagnosed with only weeks to life. That was almost a year ago. It reminded me how very relivant time was. Man goes about his foolish way; but the One who designed and created the universe is the only one who really has any control over time. Only He decides who comes and who goes, in this old world.

That being said, I am so extremely grateful to Him for the people my children have grown up to be. My oldest son is now a father. It is my heartfelt prayer that he remember the times that I was too busy or distracted to pay proper attention to him, and take that life-lesson to heart making him a far better parent than any he suffered.

Treasure every moment, my dear ones. Do not waste a single moment, not on regret or recrimination. God knows your heart. He knows your weaknesses, and He knows your strengths. Take time to repent, and as He instructs, "go and sin no more."

God loves you. Yes, even you; just the way you are!
Jude