My HOPE CHESTS—a future treasure

(Encore excerpt from Ch. 15 of Leona's recently published book LIVING THE TREASURES IN THE LAND OF MORE.)

When I was about five years old and growing up in the Iowa heartland, my mother announced that she had a surprise for me. As an only child, I always hoped the surprise would mean that at last there would be a baby brother or sister on the way to alleviate my loneliness. Perhaps a puppy? No such luck. She said Daddy was bringing my surprise from the furniture store where he worked. 

Then it arrived—Daddy carried in a large, reddish-brown chest with a distinct cedar fragrance. “It’s your HOPE CHEST, Leona!” My mother, grandmother, and aunts gathered around enthusiastically admiring it and planning for the beautiful linens they would sew and embroider to put into it for me. 

Duh! I would rather have had toys or books—or that puppy. 

According to our Czech tradition brought over by my ancestors from Europe, a family would buy a new chest for a very young girl and load it throughout her growing years with handmade quilts, crocheted pillow cases, tablecloths, napkins, and other needlework and crafted items to help head start her household when she became a bride. It had a lock and a key which Mother let me keep in my decorated wooden cigar box where I hid my own childish treasures—favorite rocks, dried butterflies, and other keepsakes. 

            Becoming a bride was far from my childhood mind; I was just entering kindergarten and had no marital prospects! That chest was certainly a deferred treasure.

Fast forward sixteen years. I was excited about my forthcoming wedding which was to take place immediately after my college graduation! In my mind my HOPE CHEST had magically morphed into a real TREASURE CHEST! How delighted I was to examine each precious item so thoughtfully prepared by beloved family members, some of whom had by that time departed from this life. 

My HOPE CHEST and its contents went with me when my husband and I lived abroad as missionaries in China and in different places in this country where we moved in our ministry. Despite scratches and one broken foot, the chest has survived more than eighty years since Daddy brought it home for me. It stands proudly at the foot of my bed even now and holds mementos, photos, stories, school records, and collected memories and prayers for my grandson Jeffrey.

Invisible HOPE CHESTS

             As a Christian, I have two more HOPE CHESTS in my faith life. Both are founded on HOPE. Both are marked with my name and are intensely personal. No one else has the key to them. Both of them are spiritual and therefore invisible.

The first HOPE CHEST contains all the potential experiences and blessings and graces and favors that God in His love foreordained for me from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6 and 11). When I was born and baptized into His family, the Lord stocked this invisible chest with all the Treasures that He planned for me. I continually pray even into my late-season years that I may keep myself open to, welcome, and accept with thanksgiving all that God has for me in my life on Planet Earth. He continues to surprise me with new things he wants me to experience and learn as He nurtures me and gradually transforms me into the image of Christ.

The second HOPE CHEST is being filled with all the Treasures of good works and good deeds of love that I have been sending ahead into the Father’s House. The Scripture says that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). 

I have not been doing good works in order to merit eternal life—I receive salvation by God’s grace alone. Nor do I do good works in order to receive rewards; rewards are God’s idea. Jesus told us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). 

Among the contents of this second HOPE CHEST are the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that flow from our genuine faith in God and desire to help others. Until I arrive in heaven, I will not know, nor do I need to know, what I have “laid up for myself” in Glory. That Treasure is under God’s lock and key. Good works and spiritual fruit are what the Lord expects of me and of all His children to the very end of our lives. I may not know while on this side of heaven which of my works are truly indestructible “gold, silver, precious stones” or which are combustible “wood, hay, straw” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

Everything is safe in this HOPE CHEST without a worry that the contents will be stolen, eaten by moths, or corroded by rust. The chest is fireproof, unlike my childhood HOPE CHEST which was constructed entirely of cedar wood. The scent was meant to keep insects from chewing the irreplaceable linens within. Similar chests in China are made from camphor wood for the same reason. Jesus said He wants our fruit to be preserved, to abide, to remain (John 15:16).

I would like the first invisible HOPE CHEST to be empty when I leave my “earth suit” behind. I want to have lived to the fullest every opportunity God planned for my growth in virtue and holiness. I want to have received all that God meant for me to have now, and to have savored every ordained-by-God experience regardless of how negative or joyful it may have seemed to me at any given moment. 

And I would like the second invisible HOPE CHEST to be full…NO, wait a minute…In fact, I hope it will be empty too! I'm sending those Treasures ahead to God not to have them stockpiled selfishly for my private use when I get to heaven or to merit for me a higher status. I want to offer those good works to God on behalf of others who may need them for their purification and expiation. I’m asking the Lord to keep distributing to others whatever I send to Him. I hope to keep replenishing what He gives out. If there are any leftovers, I offer them to God to put in His Great Storehouse, which Saint Paul called “the riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19) to join with the merits of Jesus, His blessed Mother, the apostles, all the saints of the ages, and those who died in His friendship. 

So I won’t worry if my second HOPE CHEST will also be empty when I come into God’s presence. When I do need some graces for myself, God holds the keys to His Storehouse and can summon an angel to generously obtain some for me. God's Storehouse will never be empty!

The Invisible Thread

That's the title of a recent book whose author I saw interviewed on television. It's the true story of two unlikely people whose lives seemed to be coincidentally brought together. The author referred to an ancient Chinese proverb as her launching point:

“An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.” 

 

I believe this is more than a wishful concept. It echoes the outworking of the promise in Romans 8:28. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” 

It mirrors God's networking in our lives like a weaving which we see only from the underside. God plans the unique design from above and connects the threads that will make it beautiful. The threads may be invisible now, but we may look forward to seeing the whole when we finish our life journey and all things are made clear in His presence. Then we'll understand the reason for the stretches and tangles and dark threads as well as the bright colors.

God threads some people to come into our lives only briefly but always for some purpose that God may intend for both persons. I am a part of all whom I have met and they are part of me. Some people have come into my life for longer periods, even for a lifetime. Relationships come and go like a needle and thread sewing into my life cloth as God brings them in and out through every season of my life.

I begin my prayer each morning asking the Lord, 

         “Bring into my life today everyone and everything that is in Your perfect will—whether by phone call, email, thought, in person, by a reminder to pray, through a chance meeting, scheduled appointment, letter, an obligation which I must fulfill, my routine responsibilities, or any other means. And keep out of my life anything and anyone not in accord with Your purpose. I want to do Your will on earth this day as it is done in Heaven.” 

By melding my will with God's will and speaking it aloud, I remind myself, God, and Satan and his scheming minions that I am committed to obey God. I can then accept whatever and whoever the Holy Spirit will thread into my life. If things happen that I don't expect and my own plans and schedule are disrupted, I can be at peace that God's invisible thread is sewing into my life the better plan for His sovereign purposes.

This relationship with God gives me a reason to put my feet on the floor when I wake up in the morning because I anticipate a daily adventure with God. He is full of surprises. Sometimes His serendipity is visible and tangible but sometimes invisible and spiritual. I enjoy them all because they are God-woven with His golden threads.

WISDOM—my “word” for the year

Or a good word for “the rest of my way” to the Finish Line.

At the beginning of each year I give some thought to choosing a word to focus on for the next lap of my life race. This year Wisdom is that word. 

Wisdom is needed in every season of mortal life. But in childhood it can't be attained; life has not unfolded yet. We are too fresh. Youth is the experimental period; life is being tested, knowledge is being accumulated. Wisdom? Not so much. In prime years wisdom and folly are being sorted out; some good choices made, some foolish decisions take you on detours.

It's in advanced years that wisdom is expected to flower and its fragrance waft to others. At least that's the proverbial track. The mature, the elderly, the aged are supposed to finally be wise, and those who trail behind are expected to happily benefit from their collected experience. That's not always so. Sometimes, unfortunately, the aged are foolish. And the young want to make their own mistakes, reluctant to profit from anyone else's experience. So history repeats itself. The hopefully wise should dispense their wisdom only if it's requested. Otherwise, zip. That in itself is wisdom.

Not to be selfish but to be discreet, the wisdom I seek for myself in my mature years is wisdom to live in the will and purposes of God, to choose and act prudently as the path of life narrows and the remaining days can actually be numbered. In my youth, the days stretched open end and could hardly be numbered.

The aging Moses reflected on this transient life in Psalm 90: “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.”

I likewise have reflected on this reality in my Prayer for Wisdom:

• God, grant me the wisdom of mature years, to circumvent the foolishness of aging.
• When You see me playing in the spiritual shallows, Lord, beckon me out of the wading pool into Your deep waters.
• If I feel bogged down in meaningless routine, turn the plain water of my daily life into “the best wine saved until last.”
• When I tend to resist change and settle in my comfort zone, grant me an open spirit and a growing, receptive mind.
• If I’ve lost my get-up-and-go, show me how to “rise and take up my bed and walk.”
• When my leaves are withered and dry, revive me to be “full of sap and very green.”
• When my fruit is scanty and sour, show me how to “flourish like the palm tree”
• If the embers of my first love for You are growing cold, fan them into flame by Your Holy Spirit.
• When the noise of my activity drowns out Your still small voice, quiet me to wait on You in contemplative silence.
• If the soil of my life is depleted and lies fallow, break up the clods, supply fresh nutrients, and make straight my furrows.
• When my prayers seem unanswered and my spirit is arid, open the floodgates to let Your Rivers of Living Water flow again.
• Where my life is out of balance and I lose my footing, help me restore eternal priorities to keep from stumbling.
• When my vision for Your Kingdom has grown dim, touch my eyes to see again Your destiny for me.
• If I’ve become slow of speech to declare Your message, open my lips to boldly proclaim Your Good News.
• If I can't hear Your voice clearly, send Your Holy Spirit to be my hearing aid.
• If my memory begin to slip, help me remember that You never leave me or forsake me.
• When I’m weary from the length of life’s journey, draw me close to Your bosom to find comfort and rest.
• If I’m laboring to bear scarcely 30-fold fruit, teach me to abide in You to effortlessly produce by Your wisdom 100-fold.
• Where some good seed of Your Word still lies dormant as I advance in years, send the gentle latter rain of Your Spirit so I can bear an abundant late harvest.
• When I am tired and lack motivation to press on, restore iron to my soul, strength to my weak knees and limp arms.
• When I drag my feet to do Your will, energize me with the adrenalin of Your Holy Spirit.
• When I’m short of breath from life’s fast pace, inflate my lungs with Your Breath of Life.
• If I grip material possessions too tightly, teach me to hold loosely the things of this world.
• If I open my mouth to speak foolish words, show me how to put a watch on my lips.
• When I’m afraid of the darkness around me, take my hand to walk in Your Light.
• When my emotions roller coaster out of control, teach me to set my affection on things above not on things of earth.
• When anxiety about the future threatens to overwhelm me, remind me of Your great faithfulness in years past.
• If my appetite becomes jaded by the world’s junk food, give me Yourself as my Daily Bread in the Eucharist.
• When I think I’ve reached the limit of my endurance, help me persevere in Your strength to run the last mile Home.
• When thoughts of my mortal end cause me fear, remind me that You are preparing a place for me in Your Father’s House.

AM I AN “EZER”?

Guest post by Carolyn Custis James (www.whitbyforum.com)

The LORD God said,

"It is not good for the man to be
alone.

I will make an ezer
(helper) suitable for him."

—Genesis 2:18

Three A.M., and my life was about to change forever. I was wide-awake. No, I wasn’t tossing and turning in my bed. Bed was the furthest thing from my mind. Oddly enough, I was pouring over books, smuggling volumes out of my husband’s study, searching for answers. I felt like a detective and I knew I was onto something.

For years I’d been troubled by interpretations of Eve that left me (and a lot of other women) out in the cold. I could relate to what one single woman confided, as she tried to fit in, “I don’t mind being called a helpmeet. I like helping people. But helpmeet doesn’t encompass everything about me.” Little did I realize that the “helpmeet” version of Eve was about to topple and something better—for all of us—would take her place.

What is God's Blueprint?

My attention zeroed in on the word God used to describe the woman when he created her. “Ezer” (usually translated “helper”) has historically been defined in terms of marriage, motherhood and domesticity. According to this line of thinking, a woman fulfills her highest calling when she marries, bears children and manages the home.

Wonderful and significant as marriage and motherhood can be, this definition creates serious problems for all women.

When we are little girls, God’s purposes for us are pushed out into the distant future, to the day we don a wedding veil and head for the marriage altar. It intensifies the difficulties of singleness and the heartache of childlessness. Elderly women are troubled by the thought that God’s purpose for them has expired. Like Cinderella’s stepsisters, we end up trying to squeeze ourselves into a creation blueprint that simply doesn’t fit us all.

As I studied through the night, my curiosity was fueled by a deep longing to know if God’s blueprint included me. Is God’s blueprint for us really too small?

A Warrior For God’s Purposes

The word ezer appears in the Old Testament twenty-one times—twice for the woman in Genesis 2:18 and 20, three times for nations Israel turned to for military assistance when they were under attack, and sixteen times for God. This information resulted in upgrading the ezer from “helper” to “strong helper” and led to a divided (and at times heated) discussion over the word strong. How strong is strong?

I decided to look up the references. To my surprise, I discovered powerful military language in every passage. Whenever ezer appeared—for the three nations, obviously, but also for God—it was always within a military context. God is His people’s helper, defender, deliverer, sword and shield. He is better than chariots and horses. He keeps sentry watch over his people and with His strong arm overthrows their foes. Based on the Old Testament’s consistent usage of this term, it only makes sense to conclude that God created the woman to be a warrior.

Further reading uncovered additional evidence of the strength and significance of the ezer. I discovered that the original inventory was off. Ezer shows up more than twenty-one times and in the most unexpected places. You just have to look more closely to find it.

Reading through one of those tedious genealogies (the passages we tend to skim when reading through the Bible) I spotted ezer again—in men’s names. Ezer was one of Judah’s male descendants. Moses named his son Eli-ezer. Abi-ezer belonged to the elite band of David’s mightiest warriors. Samuel raised a monument to God’s glorious deliverance and named it Eben-ezer.

Even today, the name Ezer still carries a lot of weight. Ezer Weizman was an Israeli military hero, a world leader who served as Israel’s seventh president. I doubt if anyone made fun of a man like that because his parents named him Ezer.

Ezer represents the strength and valor of a warrior. God created women to be warriors. “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Our brothers need us, and God calls us to join forces with them in advancing His kingdom wherever we are.

The Perfect Fit

That night, while the rest of the world slept, my identity changed forever. I couldn’t think of a single moment, situation or relationship in my life where my calling as an ezer-warrior for God’s purposes didn’t apply.

My three little nieces are just starting out in life, but they are ezers too. I regularly hear from moms engaged in fierce battles for their kids. A young single is battling for the souls of women in Ghana, as another woman launches a new consulting business on the home front. A friend of mine faces huge challenges in his business and is stronger and wiser in his own battles because of his ezer-warrior wife. A ezer in her nineties ministers actively to lost souls in her extended care facility.

We are all ezers—from our first breath to our last. We follow Jesus, and He calls us to advance His kingdom no matter where He puts us. Warrior covers all of who I am.

Jesus in my boat

THOUGHTS AT THE MILESTONE OF A NEW YEAR

For eighty-some years of my life I've earnestly desired to stay in the midstream of the River of God's Will. Each morning I declare to the Lord that I'm committed to do His will “on earth as it is in heaven.” That is my life habit. Do I carry it out perfectly?

Of course not. In my humanity, with regret, at times I've steered my life “boat” toward one river bank or another, let it drift backward, or veered off course and miserably failed. Nevertheless, God, in His love and mercy, always brings me back to His midstream. He is my spiritual GPS—to the extent that I not only hear His voice but obey it. If so, I stay on course through stormy weather or treacherous white rapids. My frail bark has often stalled on some sandbar. But if Jesus is in my boat—and He is—He will rescue me again and set me back on course.

At the threshold of each new year I schedule a personal “time out” from my regular routine and engage in a kind of self-examination. I need to collect or gather together the scattered pieces of my life as it is now, in order to correct my course if necessary, to better redeem whatever earth-time is left for me. 

I have to chuckle—I learned an enhanced definition for the word “recollection” when I became a Catholic Christian. I read an announcement in the Church bulletin that an annual “Day of Recollection” was scheduled for the women of our parish. I was puzzled; would we all sit around and talk about our memories? That seemed strange. I found that the purpose and agenda, however, was something like a spiritual retreat. Setting aside a day to concentrate on the presence of God without distraction, to look at Him and adore His attributes. To meditate on Scripture truths. It was to be a time to gather up our faculties, our spirits, and bring them back into spiritual balance. We were to come apart and simply gaze at the wonder of God and His love and discern how He wanted to work in our lives. 

 That's exactly what I wanted to happen in my new years “time out.”

To be honest, I need to have such a “time of recollection” every day. To present myself to God, to sit quietly, focused on Him alone without distractions. “Here I am, Lord. If you want to speak to my inner spirit, I'm listening.” There are other times I schedule Bible study and praying for others. This is not it. This is a special time to simply enjoy being together with my Lord. A time to listen to God's voice. A time to gather up the scattered puzzle pieces of my life and let Him show me how to put them together like the perfect picture on the top of the jigsaw puzzle box of my life. 

We are blessed that our parish provides a lovely Adoration Chapel for such times of silent contemplation. Parishioners voluntarily sign up to be present for designated hours so that someone is always there to worship Jesus 24/7. But in addition to taking advantage of that opportunity, I want to set a "time of recollection” for myself at home alone with the Lord.

I don't make a list of New Year's resolutions. Of course there are many things I need to change, improve, detach from, add to my life even at this late chronological season. Better late than never! But I do want to make greater efforts to schedule such a personal “time of recollection” daily this coming year. In so doing, I expect to receive from God WISDOM to help me discern His priorities according to what resources, gifts, abilities, and opportunities He is still giving me to accomplish His will. The older I become, the more urgent it is to stay close to the Lord and “keep the main thing, the main thing.”

At the same time, I have to look toward the future with realism and not presumption or arrogance. “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow” writes James in the fourth chapter of the letter in the New Testament that bears his name. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't plan, set goals, take opportunities, keep writing and publishing, and press on to fulfill my life calling from the Lord. But I defer to God's will: “If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.” Whether we are young or old, life is fragile and uncertain, a vapor, just a matter of a breath. We are all a mere heartbeat away from exchanging our mortal life for immortality in the Presence of God in a place or state which Jesus called “My Father's House.”

Day by day I need the grace and strength and guidance of God to stay in the midstream of the River of God's will. I want His hands on the steering wheel. I want to live the rest of my life “in assisted living,” (although I'm presently happy to still be living in my own home, which I've named “Eagle Summit.”) I mean "assisted living" in the sense of being totally dependent on the Lord in each season of my life, but even more so at this advanced age. I take at face value Jesus' words “Without Me you can do nothing.” I never bought into the philosophy of “I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul,” or echoed the Sinatra song, “I did it my way.” 

I truly don't want to “do it my way.” I'm determined to let Jesus keep steering my boat in this new year to keep it on course in the midstream of the River of His will all the way to His Destination.

HOW I FEEL ABOUT “GETTING OLD”

(“Ann Onymous” sent me another thought-provoker. I gave it my usual editorial attention. Any resemblance to the original is purely coincidental.)

Looking in the Mirror

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I thought about that. Actually, I don't really think of myself as old! One doesn't “get” old all of a sudden. One “becomes” older just by living longer. It's our human condition—no exceptions. So I'm quite used to the idea.

One “grows” older and that is a gift in process. Probably for the first time in my life I'm now becoming the person I've always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometimes despair over the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the cellulite. Where did the collagen go when it disappeared from my arms—and other mostly hidden places? Often I'm surprised to look closely at that old person who lives in my mirror. But I don't agonize long over such things. I would never trade my amazing friends, my fulfilling life, my loving family, and my hopefully acquired wisdom for less gray hair or a flatter belly.

Some things get better with age—wine and cheese, for example. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself and less critical of others. I've become my own best friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, for not making my bed, or for buying that silly gadget that I didn't need but that gives me pleasure. I'm entitled to be messy if I wish, to be extravagant if I can be, and to stop and smell as many roses as I want to.

I've seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon before they experienced the great freedom
that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read all night or play on the computer until 4 a.m. and then sleep until -- ? No one sees me when I dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50s & 60s. Or if I wish to weep over a lost love. If I choose to, I will strut along the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body oblivious to the pitying glances of the bikini set. They, too, will get old (if they're lucky). I know I'm sometimes forgetful. Then again, some things in life are just as well forgotten. I eventually remember the important things, but if not, they couldn't have been that important anyway.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? Broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect. I'm so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair turned silver.

I can now say "no" and mean it. I can say "yes" and mean it. As I advance in years, it's easier to be positive. I care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong—on rare occasions, of course!

Becoming older has set me free. I'm not concerned about what could have been, nor do I worry about what will be. After all these years, I've finally made peace with the person I've become. I'm not going to live forever on Planet Earth, but while I'm still in my mortal “earth suit,” I won't waste time lamenting what it looks like now. It has served me well. God has prepared a fantastic “space suit” for me to wear in my eternal life to come that is wrinkle-proof and everlasting.

Today I'm going to appreciate every one of God's not-so-ordinary miracles of life and breath and what's left of my diminishing five senses. I will greet the day with thanksgiving, joy, and anticipation. I will live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, appreciate my blessings—and leave the rest to God. Yes, I've decided I like having grown older!

WINTER OF MY LIFE

This "Ann" said it better for me. I just declare "DITTO"!
(Stolen from one of those circling emails--
but "souped up" and adapted by Leona, of course)

(By Ann Onymous)

You know. . . Time has a way of moving quickly
and catching you unaware of the passing years.

It seems just yesterday that I was young,
just married and embarking on my new life with my mate.
Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago,
and I wonder where all the years went.

I know that I lived them all…
I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams…
But, here it is…I'm in the winter of my life 

and it catches me by surprise…How did I get here so fast?
Where did the years go and where did my youth go?

I remember well…
seeing older people through the years and thinking that those
"older people" were years away from me and that "winter" was so far off

that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is…
My friends are retired and getting grey.
They move slower and I see them as older persons now
Some in better and some worse shape than me
but I see the great change in them…and in myself!
They are not like I remember them when we were all young and vibrant.
Like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those
"older folks" that we used to see and never thought we’d be.

Each day now, I find that just taking a shower is a real target for the day!
And taking a nap is not a treat anymore… it’s mandatory!
‘Cause if I don’t do so with my own free will… I just fall asleep where I sit!

I enter into this new season of my life unprepared
for all the aches and pains and loss of strength and ability
to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did.

It could be kind of scary...

but I go forth leaning on Jesus Christ, the Lord of my life!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn’t done,
things I should have done. But indeed,
there are many things I’m happy to have done.

It’s all in a lifetime…!

So, if you’re not in your winter yet…
let me remind you that it will be here faster than you think.
Whatever we would like to accomplish in our lives, let's do it quickly!

Let's not put things off too long!
Life goes by so fast. Let's do what we can today.

You can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!
You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life.

So live for today and say all the things you want your loved ones to remember

and hope they appreciate and love you in return

for your love of them and your investment in their lives!

Life, as it has been and as it is now, is God's love gift to me.

The way I live my life is my gift to those who come after.
I want to make it a fantastic one!

I want to remember that it is not health or riches that is real treasure

but wisdom from God and living for His pleasure! 

******

Sometimes we need an angel for ourselves

to help us as we struggle through life's journey;
Sometimes we are destined to be God's angel to others.