Really?

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (MSG Bible)

"Really?"

Okay, I don't know about you, my dear friends, but I'm in a state of shock here. Is the year really almost over!!! It's November!!! What! Really???

Our youngest the other day happily said this to me, "Mom, in about a month and a half it's Christmas! I can't wait!" The look on my face surprised him. I was shocked. I just didn't put the math together. December 25th is quickly approaching which means that the New Year is quickly approaching too! Really?

I pretty sure I'm not the only one in the world that's shocked by how fast the clock seems to be ticking. Time seems to disappear. Our way of life not just here in the States but in most of the world has changed dramatically in just the last twenty years. Everyone seems to be busy all of the time. "Down time" is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Who has time to stop and take it easy?

It seems as though every other person I speak to is so busy. They're exhausted almost all of the time. When I suggest they take it easy they look at me like my son did. Like I'm clueless. I live in this world too. I know how stressful life can get. I know that there are "twenty-million things to do" just about all of the time.

Thing is, I have had to learn how to slow it down. I'm easy going by nature so it wasn't too difficult for me to learn how to slow down but, I did have to work at it, still do. It's all in our perspective. If we look at our lives as a never-ending-to-do-list then that is exactly what it will be. But, if we look at our lives as something precious, a gift that had a start date (our birthday) but an end date was not given then that's what our lives will be, a precious gift.

We know our birthdays but we do not know when our last day on this earth will be. I'm actually thankful that I don't know. Life would seem too sad. Every day would be one day closer to the end. No, I'm happy not knowing but, I also know that I shouldn't live as if there is no tomorrow. That means that I can take today for granted and expect a tomorrow. That is also not a good way to live.

The Bible teaches us to live our lives one day at a time. Sound familiar? We know it in our heads that we need to enjoy every day that we are given. We know in our heads that we need to stop and smell the roses. But, do we know it in our hearts? Are our hearts and mind connected to the fact that every day well lived is a day lived well? Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is it's one thing to know and its another to live it out.