I am forty years old, a wife of one, a mother of three, a sister of three younger siblings, and the oldest daughter of my living parents. I have reached a point in my life the past few months where the need to re-examine the things I have deemed important has reached a necessary beginning.
Priorities that we think are top on the list become very small when life happens to throw us a curve ball. The things that were on the bottom of the list, then, race to the top like a fish out of water flashing "Here I am! Grab hold of me! Because I am what matters."
What matters most? Is it work? Is it ministry? Is it even the next year's curriculum that need to be sought out for us home schoolers? Is it a clean home and all the laundry done by the weekend? Is it that coffee date with a best friend? What really matters most?
For me, after a scare this past January of an abnormal spot on my breast that needed to be re-examined, my mind instantly went to my family; the family that lives with me and the family that I grew up with. My mind has a creative way of conjuring up the worst possible scenarios for my imagination to run away with.
In this case, I imagined being a cancer patient with no hair and having my mom by my side as I received chemo-therapy. I imagined my girls without a mom and a husband that had to make life work for them by himself. I remembered my dad's tears as he spoke of his sister when she passed away 21 years ago, at the age of 39, due to cancer. My imagination got the best of me.
That day when I received "the call to come back for another mammogram" was not a good day. Lots of tears were shed in my husband's arms, prayers were communicated with God, and a commitment to keep praising Him no matter what lay before me was on the tip of my tongue. I was in turmoil because it came to me as a complete surprise. It had initially put me in a state of fear. But when I raised my hands to God the peace that surpasses all understanding came washing over me.
Was this all for a purpose? I think so.
Sometimes when we get the slightest bit out of alignment with God's plan He allows the unexpected to hit us....even when we don't realize we are out of whack! This is God's way of demonstrating the depth of His love. He readjusts our thinking, our ways, maybe even our motives for why we are doing what we are doing at the present moment. Why would He do this? Because He delights in us!
All this to hear the next day that the re-examination came out clean and I do not have cancer. Praise God! What I DO have is a clearer vision of the priorities in my life, and shoulders that have been unburdened of the things that did not need to be present.
What matters most to you? Does it align with God's plan for your life? What is declaring "Grab hold of me!"?
Enjoying My Kup...
Cindy
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