right now i'm reading crazy love by francis chan - and it's been so challenging. actually our whole team of adult leaders is reading it together right now. i just picked it up and have been using it a few times during the week for my personal time with God. just got done reading chapter 2 on the reality of death and that we can die at any moment. as i put the book down, i read the passage from james 4 where he talks about the arrogance of planning for the future with no regard for the reality of death at any moment. and then i pulled out my journal and started writing all the future plans i have that i could jot down in a few minutes. plans for today...plans for this week...plans for this fall...plans for next summer...and what i'm planning on for the next 20 years.and then i looked at the list.
the reality of the possibility of NONE of those things happening sank in, and it was so good and motivating for me. none of us know when we'll die...but pondering that changes the way we live.
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I grew up in the neighborhood I now live in and just last week I found out my neighbor, Elaine, has cancer. Elaine has been a wonderful mother-type to me since I moved back shortly after my own mother's death in '05. I was with my Mother as she passed from life to death, but she had one foot here and one foot in eternity as she had Alzheimer's for 20 years. I've also worked with Hospice patients. Hard but amazingly rewarding. Two months ago, I moved my Dad to an independent senior living community nearby our homes. He'll be 88 this Sunday. As Cory spoke on Sunday, the order of our service, what the contents are, really don't matter, people do and God's Word that brings life, eternal life. When you strip away ALL the stuff and sit with someone who is dying or aged, life changes you forever. You see a glimpse of God in that person as you know they are walking from this life to the next soon and it's real. All you want to do is be with them in the here and now, to share with them, tell them of Jesus, or if they know Him, hear their words about Him. I can make my plans, but in the past 8 months caring for my Dad I've had to learn to live day by day relying on the Holy Spirit to move me next where I needed to go. It was only by that power that I could do what I did. I have a million things to do today and God knows them all, but first I'm going to go visit Elaine next door and love her a bit. Mornings are her best time. God will take care of the rest of my day.
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