We bought an e-reader for Ella for her recent birthday. The girl is a reading fool and since we travel so much and would rather not go in debt to the local library for lost or overdue books (not that I have ever let that happen, of course) the Kindle was the way to go.
When we got to the checkout at the mega electronics store we bought it from we were asked if we wanted a 2 year or 1 year replacement plan on the reader. Not if we wanted the plan, but which plan we wanted.
We didn't want any plan.
Call me old fashioned, but I believe that my Ella should be taught to be responsible for her things. And if the reader itself malfunctions within a reasonable amount of time, the manufacturer should replace it.
I know, I know, I sound like a grumpy Grampa.
Almost anything electronic you buy today comes with a plan of replacement.
A guarantee.
But here's the thing I've been thinking about lately as I've been planning out some goals for the new year: Life isn't like an electronic toy. There is NO guarantee we can purchase that promise with certainty that we will be given even one more day.
We recently had friends of ours experience a terrible tragedy, a car accident that took the life of their two year old daughter.
A terrible and horrible tragedy that really hit home because the details of the night were something that could have so easily happened to us.
A terrible and horrible tragedy that made me pause and remember again that my life or my kids lives don't come with a guarantee. Tomorrow is not a certainty. And when I realize that, or remember that fact, I live life differently. My outlook and therefore my actions change with my new perspective.
Suddenly, all the unimportant (that seemed so terribly important) falls away and the important (that got buried under the unimportant) rises to the top.
So, yes, I've been planning out new goals for the upcoming year..a practice I have done since I was a teenager that provides focus and motivation for me. A practice that I believe is beneficial.
The difference comes in that this year I am planning with the perspective that I am not guaranteed even a single day in 2015 and I want my goals for this new year to reflect the important things.
The eternally important things.,,the big moments found in responding to a call to give or go or serve sacrificially as well as the equally important small moments found in raising my children, loving my husband, and caring for the needs God has put before me in my friends and neighbors.
Set your mind on things on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:2-3
2 comments:
Beautiful.
Love your kids like it's their last year but teach them like it's your last!
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