We Don’t Know What Tomorrow May Bring

On Sunday, one of my co-workers at the polls came in late for work. She had a good excuse. Before her husband passed on, he would make sure he called his mother every Sunday morning. This Sunday, she remembered that and felt very drawn to call her 98-year-old mother-in-law – like her husband had so many Sundays. She told us that her mother-in-law, living in Colorado, was so thrilled she called and just kept talking. My friend just felt she couldn’t stop her so she carried on visiting with her. It was a love-exchange that they both needed. At work on Monday, she received an unexpected phone call. She received the word that her mother-in-law had passed on. We all knew that God’s timing for that phone call on Sunday was perfect. She could live with no regrets today. I ran across this photo that was taken on a family vacation in 2003. These are our four oldest grandchildren, who are now, 28, 25, 20 and 19. Wow! Where did those 17 years go? Graduations from kindergarten, grade school, middle school, high school, college, black belts in karate, piano recitals, speech and debate championships, baseball championships, piano recitals, that were accompanied by braces, bumps and bruises, lots of lessons learned, lots of moves from city to city and state to state, plus two more precious grandsons came along, and a wife for Braden and the biggest of all -- Papa's graduation to heaven. James 4:14 "You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes." James sure did give us a "spoiler alert"! That's a reality check -- especially for those of us who, in our 20s -- looked at the old folks (in their 50s) and thought, "They are so old!" Now, we are past our 50s and "old folks" doesn't seem so old anymore! The fact is -- the length of our lives isn't based at all on quantity, but it's based on quality. This gift of life, however brief, should be spent living in such a way that the very One who created us will always look upon His investment as a "creation well done"! Rather than looking at how fast time goes by, wouldn't it be more productive to think....."How can I make the most of the time that I have?" What if we put an exclamation point on every day we have? Those days are reserved for the accomplishments that excite our spirits and set our hearts on fire. Living a humdrum life doesn't get an exclamation point. Spending precious time complaining, whining, worrying, being cranky and cynical doesn't get an exclamation point. There's just no time to be thinking about the good old days. I love my memories. I love these photos of my precious grandkids and husband from way back when. But if I want an exclamation point at the end of each and every day, I need to wake up saying "What can I do TODAY to leave a mark and a legacy -- with no regrets?"