Every now and then, I need to remind myself that this is life. As I wrap up a long day teaching and heft a stack of papers into my work bag (where they will likely remain until I return the following day), I acknowledge that this is life. As I take a few quick days to visit a friend from college and enter into the swirl of activity which is life with young kids, I remind myself, “This is life.” And as the days of summer pass by far too quickly, I consider that this is my life.
Perhaps this stating of the all-too-obvious is something you don’t need to do. However, I find myself needing to do this at various times. It seems imperative to call to mind that I am living, that this is my life, and that I only have one chance at this. Sometimes this is a cause for concern, other times one of encouragement, and yet other times it is a good reality check. This is my life regardless of how different it is than what I expected and I need to make the most of this one chance.
If my life was filled with raising young children, I think it would be more obvious how time passes. Not that I would have all of this idealistic time to consider it, but children have the odd habit of growing, changing, and forcing you to acknowledge that they aren’t what they once were. As adults, this seems to be a bit harder to pay particular attention to since the changes are more gradual and can slip by quietly. So sometimes I need to call to mind that time is passing and, what’s more, that this time is precious and won’t come again.
It is all too easy to get caught up in getting through today and making it to the next day or to some goal in the future (for me as a teacher, pretty much each break and the glory of summer). However, I don’t want to reach the end of my life and realize I didn’t do too much with it. I don’t mean that I need to do something which everyone else views as grand or that I have a life worthy of a town square statue or a plaque…anywhere. Instead, I’d like to look back and see a life strung together of days filled with simple meaning, a heart which has grown closer and closer to the Lord, and talents which have been used and exercised for the glory of God. Sometimes the fear is that I will see instead a jumble of days, filled with meaninglessness and insignificance.
In an attempt to combat this fear, I’ve been making imperfect attempts to do something new and different. It happens in small ways and yet they can be viewed as a small rebellion to not concede that it could happen someday but rather seek to do it today or someday soon. This is life as I try a new recipe I’ve been meaning to try from my mountain of cookbooks. This is life as I plant and water a garden. This is life as I pick up another book from my stack and delve in. This is life as I plan a trip or seek to cross something off my bucket list. This is life as I soak in the moment, consciously alive and delighting in it.
It is a small rebellion. There is a little that seems extremely significant in this. And yet it helps me to see that something is happening, that life is being embraced and lived instead of just tolerated or passed through.
This is life.
It is happening right now.
Let’s dive in.
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Seeking After His Heart 