Life is Short, Handle with Care

The quote for today's blog seemed appropriate for this week. This phrase was cross-stitched by my mother when her father was recovering from open-heart surgery many many years ago (correct me if I'm wrong mom :)). This came to my mind because in the past 2 weeks, I have been to 3 funerals or viewings. You know the phrase, "Everything comes in 3s"? Well, I guess it is true a lot of the time.

First I played for a funeral of someone I did not know but who was a life-long member of our church, two Saturday's ago. This past Saturday I attended the funeral of a pre-mature baby, born only 5 months after conception at only 14 oz. This evening I attended the viewing of a woman who along with her husband were among the first people my parents and I met upon moving to WV. They made us feel very welcome. Her husband was at the time the assistant principal at my high school, and they were members of the church we attended. There 2 daughters have now lost their mother due to lung cancer at a very young age, the younger of the two being my age, 25.

Events like births and deaths always make us think more about the quality of life. For some reason though, at this time in my life, it seems especially significant. I am surrounded by so much joy with several friends and family expecting or recently celebrating the birth of new children. At the same time, I am surrounded by those who have recently lost loved ones way before their expected time.

All this has just made me appreciate life even more and realize how much we take it for granted. There are so many things that I would like to do with my life, and so many things I would also like to change. There are people I want to mend relationships with, and souls I want to help minister to, but don't because of fear. There are goals I set for myself but procrastinate on completing, and things I need to let go of, but struggle with the "how to and what if's".

I just wanted to write this post to encourage anyone who reads this, or who is going through their own struggles with the loss of loved ones, or maybe is just struggling with questions they don't have the power to answer, that one thing we can be sure about is that God loves us and has us here for a reason. If there is anything you feel compelled to do, ask God if it is His will, and if it is, don't wait another second. The world we live in expects so much from us, and too many people live their lives trying to please others or work their way up the "corporate latter" and then before they know it, their life is gone.

Of course there will always be things we will wish we could have done differently, not done at all, or maybe wanted to do and didn't. That is just part of our human nature. But most importantly, we need to remember that we only get 1 day to say what we want to say to a friend, relative, collegue, or maybe even a complete stranger. Every day is a gift, not to be taken for granted, and every encounter with another person comes without guarantee of a 2nd chance to say what we want to say. I know it's been said a million times, but it is so true "Live your faith for everyone to see. To some you may be the only Bible they ever get to read"

I said all of this for myself more than anyone else. But it was just on my heart and I wanted to share it.

God Bless!