August 21, 2023:  (Post # 69)

There’s nothing like losing a loved one to make you cherish and appreciate time.

If you think about it, time is our most valuable resource, and yet we have no idea how much of it we have.  We all tend to think we have a bountiful supply of time to do things later.  Sometimes, later doesn’t come.

I don’t have any regrets about the time I spent with John; but I do have regrets about the times I could have and didn’t.  If I could turn back time, I’d have watched some Pirates’ baseball games with him, or the Steelers, or some golf tournaments.  Even if I wasn’t particularly interested, I could’ve just been in the room with him to share my time and for us to be together.  Now, it’s too late.

It’s actually amazing at how much we all waste this valuable gift of time.  We burn our time on so many things that have no eternal or lasting value.  We waste so much of this gift obsessing about work, hobbies, sports, internet, video games, social media, etc., etc.  So often, even when we’re with our loved ones, they don’t have our attention…our phones do.

Now, when family or friends come to visit, I realize these are cherished moments.  And when they leave, I try to always remember to thank them for “the gift of their time.”  There are many things they could have done with their time, but they chose to gift it to me.  I never want to take time for granted again and I want to be a better steward of however much time the Lord will grant to me on this earth to gift to those I love, and to do His will.

Psalm 90:12:  Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Proverbs 27:1-Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring.

James 4:14 …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.

Ephesians 5:16…. making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.