Every year my husband and I, along with our four children and their spouses plus all the grandkids, take off for a winter get-a-way in the smoky mountains on MLK weekend. We’ll get a large five bedroom cabin in the woods, hang out, play games , hike, ride go-carts (the grand-kid’s favorite) see some of the attractions and cook and eat some delicious family meals. It’s my favorite weekend of the year!
After our last trip I posted a picture on Facebook that we took with the entire family–all fifteen of us. One of my friends commented “I love that you do that, don’t ever stop!” I love that thought, but the truth is that, unfortunately, we will stop one day. Not because we want to but because nothing on this earth last forever, especially people.
Most of us have a very small nucleus of people that we get to go through life with in a tiny window of time allotted us on earth. While we may have lots of acquaintances, we have very few family and friends that we can always count on in life, no matter the circumstance. Those who will be there in good times and bad. For me, these are those people.
I heard a pastor once say that when you die, there will be room around your bed for approximately eight people and those are the eight people you should always make a priority in your life. I think that is good advice. Of course, even those eight will change through the years.
My dad’s favorite saying whenever I was fretting over some teenage drama was “Don’t worry about it. In one hundred years it won’t make any difference.” While his statement frustrated me at the time, now remembering that helps me keep a lot of things in perspective.
Looking at the picture of my family, the fifteen people closest to me in the world, I know that in one hundred years, we will most likely all be gone from earth to our new home in heaven. One by on, we will each pass away. Even the cute little babies will have died of old age by that time and their sons and daughters will be the patriarch and matriarch of their own families.
But right now, I’m not worried about 100 years from now. I’m enjoying this present time that God has graciously given to me and my family on this earth and am looking forward to next year when, if all goes well, there will be sixteen of us in that picture as my youngest daughter and her husband are expecting their first child in June!
Keep ‘um coming, folks!
There is a time for everything, and a season for everything under the heavens. A time to be born and a time to die. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2a
Duking Out Life 