A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth. Ecclesiastes 7:1
The shortness of life. By Francis Quarles
And what’s a life? A weary pilgrimage,
Whose glory in one day doth fill the stage
With childhood, manhood, and decrepit age.
And what’s a life? The flourishing array
Of the proud summer-meadow, which to-day
Wears her green plush, and is to-morrow hay.
Read on this dial, how the shades devour
My short-lived winter’s day! hour eats up the hour;
Alas! the total’s but from eight to four.
Behold these lilies, which Thy hands have made
Fair copies of my life, and open laid
To view, how soon they droop, how soon they fade!
Shade not that dial, night will blind too soon;
My nonaged day already points to noon;
How simple is my suit! how small my boon!
Nor do I beg this slender inch to wile
The time away, or falsely to beguile
My thoughts with joy: here’s nothing worth a smile.
Funerals are not enjoyable for me, they are a morbid reminder of my mortality and of how short my time on this earth will be. It is a reminder of those I have loved who have gone on into eternity forever and how I must cherish my time with my loved ones. Over the last week we had a funeral of a relative and that just made me really take a hard look at the grave stones we saw at the gravesite. Everyone gets a birthday and a end date, it’s what we do in the dash that really defines our lives and our legacy. I started to really look hard at my time on earth now and for what I have remaining, may I not waste the dash but be more impactful and influential in the remaining days that God allows me to have.
Given the direction that Carla and I have taken in our foster care journey and the adoptions that followed, I have more of a mandate to live out my time on earth trying to be a more present husband, father, and human. I have been blessed to be married to the most awesome woman, wife, and mother and we are blessed to have grown our family by adoption. Now more than ever I need to live as the man that God has created me to be, that means being more intentional with my time, career, and endeavors. If I am given another 20 to 30 years to be around and present in my children’s life then that will be an added bonus. That means I need to really monitor and measure what I do on a daily basis for overall health and fitness as well as plan and execute on any and all opportunities that are within a given set of parameters (those that allow me to focus on my family as a whole).
I’ll be trying to document my journey from here on to death of how I am going to shift my career and my focus on only the essentials in life. No longer to be worried or bothered by meaningless busy work but to pour my life into something greater than myself. Please stay tuned……..
