When I was driving Emma to the hospital on Friday, I heard a person on the radio say something that really got me thinking. In rush of “what ifs” that often go through my mind when Emma has a spiked a fever, I caught the announcer’s statement.
“We often get so caught up in the “in between” that we seldom stop and realize that the two days that really matter are This day and That day.”
This day.
I admit that I regularly get wrapped up in the future. I seldom just stop and praise God for this day, whether it be good or bad. I regularly get caught up in the trap of “future fear and thinking”, and forget that this day is all I am promised, its all anyone of us is promised. I often get trapped in being scared of the future, when in reality… Christ is already there.
He already knows.
All of us do this… whether it be little things or big. We all dwell on the “what if’s”, and fail to see the “here and now”.
I find that the farther I get away from my cancer diagnosis, the more I move from that place of complete dependence. I long to get back there, but I often find I am doing it on my own strength, not His. I find that I have become complacent in my daily faith living and I so want to have that “Holy Cow, I could die” feeling back… as odd as that sounds.
I want to look around me and see life through those eyes that I had back when the diagnosis was still fresh. I want to notice the birds singing on the fence, I want to relish in the mundane and ordinary like I did back then. I want to look at my children and memorize every moment with them like I use to when I thought I could lose them.
I want to live like today could be my last day… like I use to.
Not because I have cancer… but because none of us are promised a tomorrow.
I want to be thankful for today… with all of its problems and heartaches and just plain ol’ crappiness. I don’t want to just be thankful when things go my way.. I want to give thanks for everything, not just somethings.
For everything that happens to me filters through His hands first.
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
-1 Thessalonians 5:18 (The Message)
And EVERYTHING This Day leads me to That Day.
That day when I will stand before my Savior and all of my heartache and disease and tears will be gone. I will feel no more pain, no more sadness, no more worry. I will sing of His goodness and worship him like there is no tomorrow.
Because there wont be.
And those are the two days that I am going to try to stay focused on and thankful for… because the in between isn’t a guarantee.
GREAT post, Heather!! It’s all so very true.
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Wow, Heather! What a wonderful testimony. Thank you so much. I’m passing this on to my husband who is going for his biopsy today. Love and blessings to you and your family. –Susan
Susan Ramey Clevelands last blog post..Giving Thanks and Praise
This is beautiful Heather and I needed to read this for myself this morning. Thank you for your honesty and for being so open. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with the ones you love.
And I hope that you have been feeling good too.
Love, Laurie in Ca.
Just found your site thru the Giving Thanks @ Thanksgiving 08. I love this post! I have read several posts recently talking about This Day and That Day. I tend to get caught up in the middle, too. I don’t want to, but I do. I want to live for This Day and That Day!
Great visiting with you today!
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What a great thought Heather! You echoed what my pastor preached on yesterday, in part. He also talked about how since the election, we’ve all been moping, acting like the world is coming to an end. He said that yes, Jesus could come today but if he doesn’t, our children and grandchildren will still have to be raised in this country. It’s about time Christians wake up and make a concerted effort to pray for our leaders and our nation. If God would have saved Sodom over ten righteous souls, He might certainly stay His judgment on our land if just the 500 present last night would repent and seek His face. It was really good. I have definitely had a ‘give up’ attitude.
As a matter of fact, the Lord showed me last night how negatively I’ve been using my blog. Not that it was a ‘bad’ negative but that it wasn’t being used to minister but rather to vent frustration. I made the commitment of NO MORE. You’re the first to know since I won’t have time to post anything there till later on tonight. But what a wonderful Sunday we had and your post this morning was just the icing on the cake.
Seems I’ve spent the last decade of my life waiting for our next move (literally) and longing for a place of permanence. Instead, I should have just been enjoying the journey.
Love you!
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I needed that today….thanks happy turkey day
I hope you realize that you have a powerful ministry with this blog. You are truly gifted with explaining scriptures, and have an uncanny knack for hitting me right where I need hitting at a particular time. But i guess that’s the Lord at work, guiding me to read your blog and guiding you to write what I’m needing to hear.
You should write a book.
“That day” will be here before we know it and how SWEET it will be! Until then, “This is the day that Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!’ Psalm 118:24
Great post, love you like a sista! :biggrin:
I need write this post on the head of a hammer and set it by my bed so I can pound it into my head every morning.
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WOW! Excellent post and something I so needed to hear! Thank you for sharing your heart with us. I think we all find ourselves in that place of looking toward the Next Day rather than this day and we miss out on more than we ever realize!
Just had to “Amen” Michelle P. lol and tell you that the new work has begun
Just had to “Amen” Michelle P. lol and tell you that the new work has begun
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Praying everything is ok with Emma.
Thank you for the reminder that we need to live TODAY.
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Thanks for the reminder Heather. I am one of the “worriers” about tomorrow and am working on that with the Lord’s help….I am grateful for this day He has given me and whatever tomorrow brings, I must not fret about! Yet such sweet joy will be ours when our Lord comes again! Maranatha!
This is exactly what I needed to hear at this moment. Thank you so much for writing it. I am so blessed by each visit here. And thank you, God, for Heather, and and the blessings she gives to so many through this site.
Have an awesome Thanksgiving.
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I don’t want to go back to thinking I could be dying either but I, too, want to get back to keeping my eyes on Him at all times. :::sigh:::: I feel like I have allowed myself to drift now that I feel like I am “in the clear” at this moment. I miss feeling His arms around me.
Great post! It’s good to hear I am not alone.
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You are so right. I’m going to stop worrying about what if tomorrow, and enjoy this very minute! Thanks!
Live for today, what a great thought that we all need to remember. I too, ask God to help me just enjoy my life, my children, my husband. I ask Him to help me to just enjoy Him and live in His love, not worrying about tomorrow, or where I may be heading, while trusting that He is taking me someplace good! Thanks for sharing, great thoughts!
Bless your awesomely beautiful heart dear one.
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Great post Heather, and Oh, how often I have those same thoughts myself!