This weekend past, I stood in a cemetery with some special people. We watched some workmen labor to prepare loved ones graves for headstones. These were our loved ones. Their lives mattered and they were loved. I watched them in their lifetime sow seeds and make deposits that are still paying dividends today. Their prayers are still at work in the ‘war rooms’ where they were uttered. One of their priorities was to love freely and sincerely.
I took a moment to glance around. There were graves obviously cared for and remembered. Some have obviously been forgotten for generations. As I snapped some pics, I wondered about their lives. What mattered to them in their lifetime? What were their priorities and passions? What were their regrets? What did they give their soul to? Did they sacrifice the things that truly mattered for the temporal and fading? How many unrealized dreams, unwritten books, business ideas, life-changing inventions and discoveries were buried here? Were they prepared for a tomorrow that would never come?
So what’s my #1 priority for tomorrow? I don’t know about tomorrow, but I do know that today I get the opportunity to decide how I want to remembered if tomorrow never comes. Today I love, I forgive, and I release others from my unrealistic expectations. I only have the present to prepare to leave a legacy of grace, faith, and compassion. If tomorrow never comes, I am blessed with ‘the now’.
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that. [James 4:13-15]
Restored Hearts 