Sunday, May 22, 2011

How I Would Like To Spend My Last Day on Earth...

Well we all know by now that the rapture did not occur yesterday.

But think about it, if yesterday was your last day on Earth did you spend it exactly the way you would have liked to? Did you live completely in the moments? Regretting nothing and living fully? If Jesus had come for me yesterday, I would not have changed even one second. Honestly. For a bit I have been struggling with contentment but yesterday with all the hype I actually realized how blessed my life is and a few times I was close to shedding happy tears. I was overwhelmed simply walking through my empty messy house, finding thankfulness in each pile of belongings. The sink, counters and even some of the floor was covered in dished that needed to be washed but I didn't see them. I knew I had to be outside and left the chaos to be in the sunshine with the kids. It was a strange and welcomed way for me to be viewing my house. Enough of the sappy sentimental stuff, let's see some pictures!

I started my day with a breakfast that was slow and deliberate that included the best homemade latte I have made in months. I took my foamy drink, wrapped myself in a fuzzy blanket and settled in on the couch to watch cartoons with the kids. Now cartoons are nothing like they were when I was a kid, so they had to catch me up on characters and plot. It wasn't about the TV at all but about caring about what they care about. Cartoons were cut short as the boys headed out with a grandparent for a shopping trip and the girls and I abandoned household chores and went outside. It was the most perfect day, weather wise, and that is saying a lot for our normally cloudy area. While I detailed the van (think Q-tips) my girls had a pool party.

Such simple things make them smile: empty cups, straws and a kiddie pool full of warm water. For hours they would splash around then come out to sun and dry themselves and then jump in the water again. The interior of the van slowly became clean, I enjoyed the process. Since I was trying to be as lazy and purposeful as possible it was simply butter, jelly and crackers for lunch. Let me tell you, afternoons like this are what childhood memories are made of.
The boys came home and the baby fell asleep so we tidied the house for when Blake came home. Supper was on the grill: hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled pineapple. Our grill is not fancy, it's actually more like a pit that we pile sticks in then hope a flame can catch. In the last hour of light we washed van not caring that the kids got more suds and water than the vehicle! The task of course turned into a water fight. Tons of laughter and happy screams filled the open fields around our home.


Showers and dessert were followed by music. The boys played while Eden and I improvised verses to "this old man" until he played 40. After this the kids were collapsing on the couch, almost begging to fall asleep.

Perfect.

My heart believes that I will not know when Jesus will come for His own but I think the idea that yesterday could have been the last day I would ever spend on this Earth was worthy of attention. If the news had you contemplating and sharing your faith then this whole story is not a bust, but a success. If even once you found yourself appreciating more and worrying less, it worked. No one knows when He is coming so we should be living each day as our last. I think yesterday was pretty much as good as it gets.
And even though I despise feet, I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing my kids do everything barefoot!

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