This is a Public Service Announcement

I've been considering my life lately.  The mid-life crisis I worked very hard to avoid at 40 has blind-sided me at 41 and it has me pensive and philosophical nearly to a fault.  It can be downright depressing to number your days, but alas that is exactly what we are commanded to do so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  I wish I had numbered them before now, to be honest with you.  Many things about my life would look differently had I known the fleeting pace of life, how quickly it passes and how easily it slips through our fingers without diligent attention.  I would have done a lot of things differently.  I've made a lot of mistakes.  I've caused a lot of my own pain simply from an unwillingness to listen to correction or instruction.  I wish I had made friends with humility sooner.  Humility would have saved me from nearly all the dents, dings, scratches and shatterings of my heart if I had just had the grace and humility to listen.

"I wish I had..."s and "If only..."s can lead you to a very dark place in your spirit - a place of regret.  Do you gain a heart of wisdom by numbering the days behind you or ahead of you?  I don't know.  Mark Lowry tweeted last week that "One of the first steps of working through depression is to give up all hope of a better past." So with grace and humility I look ahead choosing to number the days in front of me of more value than the ones behind me.  They're not written in stone like those back there, and they're not destined to be of the same stock... well, not unless I don't learn from them. 

I say all that to say this.  I don't think I'm the only one with regrets.  I'm fairly certain I'm not the first person to cringe at some of the pages of my memories.  And I'm confident that someone besides just me is well acquainted with a nagging weakness, sorrow or pain. 

To all of us described therein I have a Public Service Announcement: 

God loves you just as much today as He did
the day before your worst mistakes. 
He did not choose to love you -
He can't help it... it's just Who He is. 
All of your best days never made Him
love you any more than your worst days
could have made Him love you any less. 
It's never been dependent on you. 
His love is dependent on Him
and He's dependable.

So shake off all hope of a better past and embrace with wild abandon the number of days you have ahead of you.  Take the hand of the Love Who will not let you go and lets go forward with grace and humility and confidence in the never-ending love of our Savior.


Thanks for dining at the Cafe' today!
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