Insignificance

So, as I sit at my computer screen, I think. (And I do a lot of thinking at night... it's pretty much when my mind comes alive and things can sort themselves out)

I think about the past and I think about the future. I think about current friendships and relationships, my family... ya know, all that. And I realize how insignificant my life is. How utterly small I am. How in the big scheme of things, I'm a fleeting vapor (James 4:14). Blink and I'm gone.

I read a poem once called "The Dash". It was about the dash between your birthdate and the date of your death on your gravestone. What is said in your dash? What did you accomplish in your life? I don't think it was a Christian author, so I don't know if he/she mentioned, this... but what did you do for the Lord?

This is my Grandma Stoller. She turned 88 today. Eighty-eight years. She has seen so many things happen in her life. Lost her dad when she was 8 years old and 2005 marked 30 years of being without my grandpa. She's experienced so much heartache, but also so many times of joy. She is an amazing woman of faith and I have so much respect and love for my grandma. She became a Christian at age 13 and they asked her in the baptism waters if she thought she could be faithful to the Lord until she was 80 years old. She's done that and then some. My uncle asked her tonight if she ever thought she'd live to be 88 years old. She said, "I didn't think I'd make it past 80."

My grandma has been a very special part of my life. Countless nights spent at her house listening to stories of the farm or when she moved to Chicago to work. Countless mornings eating pancakes, solving the world's problems. :) I love sitting with her in afternoon church, singing with her and holding her hand. There's something neat about sitting with someone who can't read the words anymore, but can sing all the hymns because she knows them by heart.

Her dash is filled with memories of loved ones, times when she opened her heart and her home to people. I pray that I can be a woman of God like she has been and continues to be. That I can shine Jesus to my family and friends like she has to me.

Well, I think this is enough. I didn't know I was gonna write all this about Grandma, hope I didn't bore you with details of her life. :) Let's try to remember this week to fill our dash with things that matter, things of eternal importance and remember that in a *blink* we're gone.

Lovin' you all!