If Tomorrow Never Comes

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ~~ James 4:14

April 20, 2013

It's been awhile since we've chatted.  The past couple weeks have been absolutely crazy.  I'm not sure I could blog about everything so I will pray, put my fingers on the keyboard, and let's see what happens.

I am sitting here in the cottage staring out the french doors.  The yard man mowed today and the lush green around my beds is absolutely alluring.  Last night, I put down the last bags of mulch and hung up my garden fork, rake, and shovel.  I thought about all the hours and hours of work I've put into the back yard and how I would feel if in a flash it was all gone.

Boston Marathon Bombing

As Americans we've just experienced an attack of terrorism at the Boston Marathon where many people were maimed and/or killed.  As Texans, we've just experienced an explosion in West that not only destroyed half the town but 35+ people were fatalities and over 200 were injured.  The folks standing at the finish line to welcome racers had no warning.  The folks in West had a few minutes to evacuate.  Who would guess their lives would be forever changed when the bomb and explosion went off.

Explosion - West, TX

I am a creative homebody.  I just love to piddle around in my cottage, the little casa, and my gardens. I can get lost in the project of the moment barely coming up for air until it's completion.  I stood on top of the storm shelter the other day gazing down on what had been so barren.  I was smugly proud of my accomplishments.

This day, I realized that poof (!!) I could be gone; and, I also realized that poof (!!!) everything I have worked so hard to attain could be leveled.  Would all my material possessions have defined me rather than my relationships with others and my Heavenly Father?  I am truly beginning to understand what the Lord has been trying to teach me the past 10+ years.

Not that long ago, I lived in a big elaborate home with every nook and cranny filled.  One night, I escaped to a shelter and in just 30 days, everything I knew and loved was gone.  I would also add that within that 30 days I was transformed and refined to a place of peace and serenity.

 "...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ~~ Philippians 4:11-12

As a worker bee who can get lost in her projects, I need to remember what is really important in life: my relationships and my faith in an everlasting God.  If I had ten seconds to evacuate my home what would be important to me?  I can answer quite easily ... Michael, Toby, and Sadie.  Nothing else would matter.  If I were standing on the street and a bomb went off what would I do?  I know I would be a first responder ... if I was obliterated, it would be okay, I would be with my Father in Heaven!

Always remember you are loved and prayed for ... YOU & YOU & YOU TOO!!

Miss Dottie

PS  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the middle of the sea~~Psalm 46:1-2

What comfort there is in coming beneath the Father's wings and being wrapped in his grace!!