Perspective

What is it in your life that brings things into proper perspective for you? Is it reading the obituaries from time to time to remind you how fleeting life is and of that one true statistic that never changes: "one out of one dies"!!!???

Is it going to a funeral or going to a cemetery and seeing the "-" between the year born and the year died, knowing that all of life is summed up in one little hash mark on a grave stone?

Is it a visit to a doctor with a friend/family member who just learned that she has an incurable disease?

Is it watching your child walk down the aisle on his/her wedding day when it only seems like yesterday when you were coming home from the hospital with that newborn in your arms?

Or, maybe it is reading a really good book, like The Shack, about which I wrote a whole post a while back, that makes sense out of seeming nonsense.

For me, it is a combination of all of the above. Or, actually, more often than not, it is spending time in the Word and in prayer with my LORD that brings my life into focus and my perspective into an eternal one.

Last night Monty and I went to dinner, just the two of us..........the first time we have not had children/grandchildren since Dec 21........where we conversed about our lives and what really matters ..................PERSPECTIVE!!!! A friend at church passed away early Saturday morning after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was only 50 years old and leaves behind his wife of almost 24 years and three children: 19, 17 and 12 years of age, plus a mother who buried his father 38 years ago. That kind of sobering news should lead us to discussions about perspective.

I just spent 9 days in Louisville with the 19th grandbaby who was born Dec 18. See the added photo on Joshua Luke Groves, 5th child of Lanny and Stacey. Holding a precious newborn baby brings perspective to life, especially when there are four others running around who were the newborns only a few short years ago.................and in only a few more years will be the ones walking down an wedding aisle (possibly)!!!

Soooooooo, back to my conversation with my husband of 41 wonderful years of marriage........... we agreed that we wanted to stay in the race and finish well, so that all who come behind us will find us faithful (sounds like it could be a song, huh???) We have been involved in youth ministry for over 20 years, and more recently college/young adult ministry for the past 15, or so, years. And we are asking each other and the LORD........what next? There seems to be a great need in early childhood in our church, which we have not done together outside of our own children and grandchildren!! Is that where we need to get a new perspective?? It would probably lead to having input in young parents...............so we will see what the LORD's perspective is with that.