Deja vous all over again. As I happened to be scrolling through the smart TV to find some interesting entertainment to fill my empty mind, I happened upon an old favorite of mine. It was the continuing soap opera I watched as a young mom, more than fifty years ago. It’s still on the tube! There are even some of the same characters I remember. Don’t these actors ever die? Oh yes, I remember, they do, but the return eventually as a new character or a ghost from the past. Anyway those days of raising a family, yet finding a half hour a day to tune into “Days of Our Lives,” was almost a necessary escape for me. I didn’t bother to tune in to the current version, because I was afraid they were still on the same storyline, but it did get me thinking about the sands of time and how quickly they pass.
An old hour glass collects dust on the mantle piece. Occasionally a curious child will decide to turn it over and watch the sand slowly sift from one area to another. Each grain takes its place in familiar surroundings, yet never knowing where it will end up. We start each day with those sands set in place. We plan for how the day will progress. We get interrupted along the way, with various nuisances or change of plans, but we continue to pour ourselves into the day – grain by grain – slowly yet effortlessly falling into place – only to be returned from where we came, and do it all over again the next day. We try to fill the spaces that were interfered with the day before. We go through the motions. We don’t always stop to think that we’re making any kind of profound impact on the world, yet each of our movements has been mapped out by God in advance. Our purpose is His. Our will gets in the way of that purpose many times. We think we can force our opinions on others. We believe we must do something to obtain our salvation. We try to manage the unmanageable ourselves. We go outside our boundaries and fall away from the path that was positioned for us before our conception.
Unlike the old soap opera, which depended on repeat viewers, there doesn’t have to be drama in every moment we live. Sometimes we can gain contentment just by enjoying a sunrise or sunset. We might take a few moments in quiet conversation with our Creator. We can plan our days, but almost always count on interruptions. The interruptions might be life changing, or simply going through the motions, but each of those moments is valuable. As we start a new week, we’re faced with all kinds of options. For many right now, the options aren’t great. We still face a pandemic. Our leadership and economy are in question. Crime is rising and getting closer and closer to home. Homelessness and addiction is up. Suicide is becoming much too commonplace. The next episode doesn’t look promising, if we continue to bury our heads in the sand. The ups and downs of living can quickly turn mundane and hopeless if we allow them to.
Today is a new beginning. Get rid of the baggage that’s clouding your thinking and your optimism. Look at this day as the start of a new adventure – a new opportunity – a blessing from God. As we go through each hour, remember that you have the King of Creation looking out for you. His love is unconditional – everlasting – perfect. He loves us beyond comprehension even though we don’t deserve it. With that thought in mind, every day can be a fresh start – a new story – an optimistic outlook – freedom and peace of mind, because He has numbered all the days of our lives.
atimetoshare.me 
I did a quick quip a couple of ears ago about “The Lives of our Days.” The sands keep flowing through that hour glass, but if we have no “Life” in our days, why are we still breathing? God has a plan for that, but you talked of fog. About a year ago, my wife’s neurologist dropped the idea of sleep deprivation as the cause of her cognitive issues, that and a slight depression. He prescribed Aricept to stem the tide of growing dementia, possibly Alzheimer’s. But here a year later, he has done a 180. She answered his questions, with some difficulty, but she managed. And he felt that she was much better. Now he thinks it is sleep deprivation, because the slight depression has passed. According to her semi-smart watch, she only get about two hours of deep sleep each night. So, we are in an observation period of three weeks to see if she is no worse without the medicine. NOW for the lifting of the fog. Three days after the test started, I was scheduling today’s activities, one was to get her driver’s license. She had shoved the paperwork aside for two months, because she “knew” she could not handle the stress of filling out the forms. But yesterday she starts telling me all that has to be done – from memory – before we go to the DMV. I had done none of it, because she was unable to concentrate to do her part. My bad, I should have at least read the instructions. Now the forms are filled out, in the mail, and we will probably be late getting the new driver’s license, but she does not drive anyway. My point is that three days after getting off this drug, her mind is a lot clearer and she remembered something I did not remember. Was the medicine creating the fog or are we witnessing a miracle? Can it be both?!
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I’ll go with a Miracle. With God all things are possible ❤️
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Amen!
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Praise the Lord! I have been praying for the Lord to heal and restore your wife’s intellect. I’m sure that many others have been praying, too. God is so awesome!
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Thank you so much.
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unconditional is a word that has been coming at me left and right for about the past month—
it’s a toughie!!!
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Hard for us to fathom.
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Sometimes very hard to accept!!!!
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“Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” — I remember the announcer saying this at the start of every show. Yes, I watched the Days of Our Lives soap opera in the 1970s when my children were little. I had no idea it was still on. Amazing!
I recently calculated how many days I have been alive so far. The number is more than 24,000. Wow!
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Each one of those days is a gift from God!
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Wise words, as always. Thank you! 😊
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Your welcome and thanks for your encouragement.
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Kathy, there is an inspiring and honest witness as your words moved from the hour glass into our daily lives. God has counted each and every grain of sand, and He knows exactly where we “should” be heading. But, our imperfect plans never mirror the Lord’s. During my final 10 years of teaching (all in a large urban school system), I learned the importance of flexibility. Far more than I did during my previous 30 years out West.
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I imagine you were a wonderful teacher – one of those special individuals who truly loved teaching and making a difference.
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Kathy, your kind words are much appreciated. My career was influenced by many of the excellent teachers I experienced.
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A noble profession.
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