Have you ever made choices that have caused you to look in the rearview mirror of life and wish you had done things differently? Or Maybe you have closed your eyes and wanted to ignore what you had just seen? Are you like me…
Bang! It was a loud clunking noise, and I had seen the squirrel just a second before I ran over him. I know I’m not supposed to close my eyes when I’m driving, but I couldn’t help it. Maybe I didn’t just kill a poor squirrel, if I closed my eyes, it meant it never happened, right?
I looked in my rearview mirror to see where the poor thing landed, but to my surprise, there was no squirrel!
“That’s weird,” I thought to myself. “I know I ran over that creature, poor Chippy”
Now my brain was boggled, a small animal could not have survived such an accident. I put it out of my thoughts till I arrived back home and shared the story with Vance. He thought the disappearing squirrel was strange a phenomenon too.
Have you ever been in a situation where you questioned what you were seeing and wondered if you may have lost your mind?
Many months after I ran over poor Chippy, we had my family over for dinner. My brother Kirk was outside for a bit when he came in and said, “There is something in the front grate of your car. ” He grabbed a tool and pulled the strangest looking object out…Chippy.
I will give you some time to get a tissue and blow your nose over this unfortunate and tragic event.
Imagine my euphoria when I realized I had not lost my mind, and I had indeed killed a squirrel. I had pondered that day a few times and was confused as to where the squirrel had gone.
Are you like me, are there times when you just want to close your eyes and pretend something isn’t happening because you don’t know what to do about it? You don’t want to face the difficulties or trials you are going through presently?
One summer Vance and I played baseball. Since I am quite terrible at baseball, they would just throw me out somewhere in the field to wander aimlessly. Usually, if the ball were coming my way a couple of the men would come running in my direction and catch it before I missed the catch.
But one day I surprised everyone. I could see it coming; it felt like I was in a slow-motion movie. My heart started pounding, and a million thoughts were racing through my head. Just before the ball reached me, I opened my glove and closed my eyes. Then I felt a thud in my mitt. My team cheered, and so did the crowd. They had known I couldn’t catch a ball, and so did I.
When we walked back to our bench my husband Vance turned to me and asked, “Did you close your eyes?” I looked at him sheepishly, “Yes” He explained to me how dangerous it was to close my eyes when I’m catching a ball. “You have to protect your face, and if your eyes are closed, it may hit your face instead of your glove.”
Life can be the same. Disasters can come our way, and we are tempted to hide or close our eyes and pretend it’s not happening. I’ve done it many times. If I just pretend it doesn’t exist maybe, it will disappear, and I won’t have to face my problem, especially if I was the cause of it.
Last weekend the citizens and vacationers to Hawaii received a mass message from the Hawaiian government. Some thought it was a joke from a friend. But when they heard everyone in Hawaii had received the same text, they realize it must be real.
They were told to seek shelter, but no amount of cover is going to save you from a ballistic missile. Close your eyes and pretend it’s not happening right?
Eventually, they found out it was a false alarm. But for forty-five minutes people thought they were going to die. After the scare was over news reporters interviewed folks and asked them what they did when they received the shocking text? (Read more about this event:Â HERE)
One man said his family hopped in the bathroom tub and waited. Another man was vacationing in Hawaii and said he called his loved ones to tell them he didn’t know if the text was the real thing or not. He said goodbye to his family just in case he died. Then went golfing, since he knew hiding wouldn’t save him.
Laurie Hoots was visiting Hawaii and said “Lots of people wandering around in deep thought, as in, “Am I ready?”
What would you do? You have forty-five minutes till the ballistic missile reaches your neighbourhood.
Would you:
Drive you fancy car around town
Buy some new jewellery
Watch your favourite TV show
Check your FB news feeds
Count your million dollars
Shine up your trophies
Shoot up some drugs
Drink all your bottles of alcohol
If you thought about it long and hard, you would probably spend your last forty-five minutes with the people who mean the most to you. You may even ask some of them for forgiveness if your relationship has been hurting.
All of the above-listed choices seem entirely meaningless, don’t they, compared to telling your family you love them and spending your last moments with them.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”Â
― Mother Teresa
Maybe you have been living life as though you are invincible. You have all the time in the world. You’re like Chippy, wandering through the forest enjoying life, then boom, it could all be gone!
You have told yourself you will quit the drugs, drinking, gambling, trophy shining, and empire building. One day. You have time, but do you?
Or maybe you’ve been putting off Jesus Christ, thinking you have time for a relationship with him, later. Jesus has been waiting for you. He wants you to be in heaven with him one day.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16
Live your life in a way that will leave you loving what you see in the rearview mirror. Your family’s greatest desire is within your own grasp. They want you: a healthy, happy, devoted wife and mother.
All that other stuff is fluff compared to the beautiful gift you can give them…yourself, your time and your love.đź’—
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
– Philippians 2: 3-4
