Cherish the Day

I am saddened today by the news of my 23 year old neighbor loosing his long battle with colon cancer; Christopher Roberts. The family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers. I have known Chris and the family my entire life; after all they are just across the hollar and their property joins ours. His long battle and the fact that he was so young has been a constant thought in my mind; to be frank it bothers me a little. I know one should never question God because He always has a reason. But, it is hard to grasp why people die so young; when their life as we know it has barely begun. It's hard knowing he was not that much younger than myself and he didn't choose this disease. Simply put, I (we) take too much for granted sometimes. Speaking for myself, I know I do. The last several weeks, after news of his worsening condition, I have really been thinking about life and the legacy one leaves behind and applying it to my own life; or at least trying to. All this has brought some fine tuning to some of my scenses: seeing & hearing. I have always looked at God's creation as a beautiful thing, but now more than ever. It's like the green of the grass is greener, the blue sky is bluer, the sweet frangrance of flowers is sweeter, and the song bird's song is cripser. What this all boils down to is that each day God gives us a blessing, often multiple blessings, and I want to make sure and be thankful for it whatever IT may be. Waking up in the morning is a blessing in itself, but do I always remember to thank God? I'm trying to do better. Remember to cherish each day God brings and live in the present rather than the past. God gives us today, but he has never promised tomorrow...gotta be ready when He calls us home.

On a side note and it kinda ties in to what I'm trying to say...my nieces recently got back from church camp, on fire for the Lord, and they brought home some interesting topics discussed in the services. The one that sticks out the most was the illustration given regarding tomb stones. On a tomb stone it lists the year born, followed by a dash (-), and the year of passing. The years listed are significant in their self, but what about the dash and all the stuff in between? The question brought from this is what does one want their dash (-) to be? What legacy, teaching, knowledge, memory does one want to leave? That certainly got me to thinking. What do I want to be remembered by? What do I want to achieve in life? What is important to me? Of course the only true way for me to answer these questions is to let God in them and have Him lead me in His direction. I only want for me what God wants; not be self-absorbing and living for myself or what the world wants. My life belongs to God and God alone. It is His and He is free to do whatever with it that HE chooses, not me...that is so hard for me sometimes, but this is how I choose to live my (His) life; a life of service to Him. Many people think I have put them on a back burner and am only concerned with myself, but to be truthful I have submitted my entire being to the Lord and I will follow where He leads. Now...please don't read this and think I'm trying to make myself into a glorified Christian because I certainly am not. I just felt that I should share what God has placed on my heart and what He is doing in my life. He opens my eyes to many things and right now it is to cherish the day and thanking Him for the many blessings in life.

God be with the Roberts Family and give them peace and comfort during this storm of life.

Until next time . . .