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LORD,
remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are
numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.
My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just
a moment to you; human existence is but a breath. We are merely moving
shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for
someone else to spend. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope
is in you.
(Psalm 39:4-7 NLV). One of my friends sent me the
following email recently. Although
I do not know the original author, I’m sure you will agree that it is a
poignant reminder to all of us in our busy world. I got to thinking one day
about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that
fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a
little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because
their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had
been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you
watched 'Jeopardy' on television? I cannot count the times I called my
sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She
would gasp and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair
is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast. It looks
like rain." And my personal favorite, "It's Monday. "She
died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because Americans
cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live
on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions
are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie
toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet.
We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and
the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and
all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to,"
"I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a
bit." When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to
adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas.
Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes,
and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and
skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in
10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it
directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process.
The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had
hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now,
redeem the time. Number your
days! Do something you WANT to, not something on your SHOULD DO list. If
you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who
would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? When you
ask, "How are you?" do you hear the reply? When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed with the next hundred tasks running through your
head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your
haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die?
Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your
day, It is like an unopened gift, thrown away. Life is not a race. Take it
slower. Hear the music before the song is over! |
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