If Today was Your Last Day....

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;he will never let the righteous fall.

Pslams 55:22

I have so much on my mind. More than I probably can put into a blog entry, considering it is 1215 in the morning....But, thought I would take a stab at it...So much has went on the past week. My sister lost her husband, suddenly, a brain anerysm. He was only thirty years old. She has three children, and my heart is honestly broken for her. Shaun was an amazing man that when he entered my sister's life, was not saved. Through the course of their relationship, he became a Christian...and boy, did his life change :) He was on fire for God. He wanted anyone and everyone that he came into contact with to know what God had done for him. And he made sure to tell them about it. So, with death comes sadness, for those of us left behind. But for Shaun, he is rejoicing in Heaven with his Heavenly Father....

Sometimes, we wonder why? I know I sure have these past few weeks...My sister and I have been close for years. We may live miles apart, but the closeness we share has never changed. When we get together, we automatically go into "sister mode"...talking about all our crazy memories, sharing our childhood stories, talking in "the voice", we re-tell, and reinact one story after another....Homer, Homer, Homer Owl, Barbara Bed/Martha Mattress....lol...We remember the amazing neighborhood "dance" where we charged admission...or the time we sold fruit roll ups and capri suns...for money...We were the Indian Springs entrepreneurs :) So many good times...

There were bad times too...The fights, misunderstandings, times when we thought that things would never be the same....but we made it through...Our Lord has brought us through some serious battles in our lives...Not just talking personally here~he has brought us ALL through so much. We just take those moments for granted. We tend to think that we get through this "stuff" on our own, or if we realize that it is God who gets us through...We just forget to thank Him...We may thank him in the midst of the trouble...but slowly, with each passing day...We get back to our daily lives of busy-ness...and forget WHY we are still going....

These past few weeks...Why~has been my number one question....Why does my sister have to go through this? Although seems trivial under the circumstances~Why does the transmission in my van have to "blow" on my way to my brother-in-laws funeral? Does God not understand that in the midst of all of the chaos going on around us that James and I NEED to be at my brother's(I like to call him brother~He was like the brother I never had <3) funeral. My sister needs us there. Why did we have to get stranded in the middle of no where? I don't understand. And spend money that we didn't have to get our van towed back to Kingsport, and somehow get it fixed. Ugh...Seems so unfair. The world seemed to be falling down around us......

That night, while were sitting at a gas station somewhere in Virginia, attempting to make it to my sister's house....with smoke coming from the engine of our van..... I was desperate. I came to a point, where I knew that no matter what we tried to do. James and I couldn't "fix" this predicament. So, yes, after trying to do it ourselves...getting upset with each other, the situation, the kids....We started to pray. Seriously? Looks like we would learn. Prayer should happen first. Not after we are exhausted. But we are human. We tried it our way first. We prayed. "Lord, my sister needs us. Please, somehow, let us make it to Fredericksburg on time. Please." Short and sweet. Desperation. I had nothing else. Then I had this idea, maybe if I put our need on facebook, someone would have an idea...as to what to do....So, I did...I asked for a Farm Bureau agent's name, tow company, ect. Ok, for those of you who "hate" Facebook. God used Facebook for his glory ;) I mean no sooner than I put our needs out there~responses came pouring in...I had insurance agents calling us, tow truck company names and numbers coming in. Friends willing to come and get us, friends willing to bring us thier car...so we can drive to my brother's funeral. AMAZING. Normally, James is the kind of person who won't accept help...He can "do it" regardless....but this time, I was on my computer, after we had gotten our van towed home to Kingsport. We are in a hotel, hoping to get a rental car, so we don't lose any ground. (By the way, God chose to let our van's transmission go out at an exit right next to a gas station AND a hotel...in the middle of nowhere...hmmmmmm, coincidence?) When I get a message from someone from our church...She said that God had told her to get on the computer before going to bed...She had been in the ER with a family member and had gotten home late. When she did, she saw our need~and she and her brother, drove her car to us in the middle of the night....3 am to be exact....and let us drive her car to the funeral. Blessed. I'm not sure why our van had to break down, but I think God wanted us to see that HE is in Control. We are not. He can bless us beyond any thing that we think possible. If we only turn to Him. Daily. Not just in our time of need. Lesson learned.....

Life is hard. Losing someone you love at such a young age isn't right. I hate to see my sister going through so much heart break. I wish I could take it all away. And see her smile again. I wish I could tell Shaun that I love him. Tell him that he is the brother I never had. I can't do that though. But God is using this situation. God is with us. and I know that.

Be sure to tell those who matter to you...that you love them. Every day. Don't get mad over the little things. Our time here on Earth is short. We are here for one purpose, and one purpose only. To share Christ and his love with others. If you knew that someone that you love would not be with you tomorrow....what would you do differently? That's how we should live. What if today was your last day?

                                                                                    if today was your last day
& tomorrow was too late
could you say goodbye to yesterday?
would you live each moment like your last?
leave old pictures in the past?
donate every dime you had?
if today was your last day

against the grain should be a way of life
what's worth the price is always worth the fight
every second counts 'cause
there's no second try
so live like you're never livin twice
don't take the free ride in your own life

Make this life count for Jesus....<3 It's what we are supposed to do....Period.