What's Important?

What's important? I've been very philosophical the past couple of months thinking about what is really important in life. I mean, I know the big stuff, like my relationship with Jesus Christ is THE most important thing. But what else is important?
Missing my youngest child all summer has made me realize that how we spend every moment of every day with the ones we love is important. A couple of weeks ago I again thought about one of the saddest days I can remember. The third anniversary of the day we lost two very special people, Lisa and Ben Kelly. The were taken from us so suddenly, without warning. How would we cope? In the days and weeks following that tragedy I watched a husband and father show strength that I know, can only come from God. While we mourned, heaven was rejoicing! Two more are home now. And for that, we can be thankful. We know where Lisa and Ben are now. Our loss is heaven's gain. We can gain comfort in knowing they are with Jesus. That was a rough year. Before the sudden loss of Ben and Lisa, I lost my Dad to cancer. He had been fighting it for three long years. I remember how sick he was at my daughter Ashley's wedding. But he continued to fight. But finally he could fight no more. He had been in he hospital several days, but the doctors thought he would be going home soon. We had planned to go see him, once he got back home. But then came the dreaded call. The doctor said we needed to come now. It didn't look good. I left work early, met Jeff at the house, picked Bethany up from school and headed toward Tennessee. We drove long into the night. But we didn't get there in time. With a couple of hours to go, we received the call that Daddy had slipped away into eternity. I never got to say good-bye. How could we not have made it in time! So many regrets. But again, our loss was Heaven's gain. I take comfort in knowing he is with Jesus today. So thankful that as a man in his 60's, he had given his life to Christ, several years before. I miss him every day, but know I will see him again!
So, back to the question posed earlier: What's important? Living without regret. That is important. Making a difference -- that's important. Forgiving -- as difficult as that may be at times, is important. Loving others, and telling those we love that we love them -- that's important! Don't put that off. You might not get another chance. Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who are lost and dying and headed to an eternity separated from God -- yeah, that's important! Really important. It seems that recently God has been re-emphasizing that point to me. Share the love of Jesus with others! Every sermon, every quiet time devotion -- they all come back to that message. People need to know about Jesus. I need to tell them!
What's important? This scripture keeps coming to mind: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desire of your heart will be." Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT). What I do now, here on this earth for the Kingdom of God is what is important. When I get to heaven, I want to hear my heavenly Father say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Back to Reality

"The Big Blue" -- that's what we say as we cross the intracoastal waterway into Flagler Beach and see the beautiful Atlantic Ocean! I love the familiarity of driving down A1A, pulling our little camper and driving into Gamble Rogers State Park campground, right next to the "Big Blue"! This past week was our 10th visit to Flagler Beach, one of my favorite places on earth! This year we were blessed to have 2 of our 3 daughters and all 4 of our grandchildren with us at the beach for the week. We spent our mornings down on the beach, playing in the sand with our feet in the water, soaking up the sun! Every afternoon we went on an excursion to one of the many state parks located throughout central Florida. We spent days in "the real Florida", enjoying God's creation and learning allot about the history of our great state! We saw gardens, forts, lakes and historic ruins. We walked nature trails and went on boat rides! It was great! In the evening, after grilling our dinner and eating at the picnic table we would sit around the campsite, just enjoying spending time together. What a great week! Today we tore down, unhooked and cleaned up the camp site and headed for home, not my favorite part of vacation! I look forward to spending time at Flager Beach every year and am already anticipating our visit next year, hopefully with all 3 daughters and the grandkids, too! But until then, it's unpacking, laundry, church, work, etc. It's time to come back to reality! But I still have my memories of this wonderful week and of . . . "the big blue"!

HALF WAY THERE!

Happy Birthday, America! We've just celebrated 235 years of freedom here in the United States! We are truly a blessed nation. Let's pray we continue to be blessed and free in the days and years ahead! How did you spend your Independence Day weekend? Picnicing, boating, watching fireworks? Jeff and I had a quiet night at home, sitting on our third floor bedroom deck, overlooking the beautiful St. Johns River, watching fireworks all around us, ending in a spectacular display brought to us by the folks at Moosehaven. It was fun, but a little too quiet for me. I'm used to having all our kids and grandkids around for holiday celebrations. But unfortunately that didn't happen this year. Emily, Brian and their three precious kiddos were visiting the "other grandparents" in Panama City. Ashley, Jason and James were back home in Tennessee, after spending two weeks with us here last month. And Bethany was high atop a building in Miami, watching the fireworks down there! Yes, she is still in south Florida, doing mission work for our Lord. She continues to do Vacation Bible School for churches in the Naples, Ft. Myers area, as well as helping out the Miami team, as needed. Jeff and I and Weston (the boyfriend) had the opportunity to go down and visit her this past weekend. We traveled very early on Friday morning, arriving in Naples before lunch. We got to see where she is staying, meet her teammate, Emily and attend VBS family night at the church they were working at this past week. It was a blessing to see her doing what God sent her down there to do. I must admit, that as a parent, I was very proud of my youngest daughter that night. As I watched her up on stage leading, I couldn't help but think back to the days when she was just one of the VBS kids herself. It was such a blessing to see how she has grown and matured in her relationship with the Lord and how He is using her for His glory this summer. God truly is so very good to us. We were able to spend a fun-filled day with her on Saturday on Sanibel Island, one of my favorite places in our beautiful state! And we had a few hours with her on Sunday afternoon in Miami, seeing the Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne and relaxing at the local Starbucks, before we had to leave her so she could go begin her new week of ministry. We packed in allot of fun in a short amount of time, but it was well worth it! And when we drove away, leaving her there in Miami, I was sad. I wanted to pick her up and put her back in the car and bring her home! But I knew I could not. Nor would I really want to cut short her time of ministry this summer. As we were driving north, toward home, still missing her, I realized that she really has grown up this summer. As much as I think she enjoyed her time with Jeff and I, and probably more so with Weston, I think she was excited to get back into the routine and get busy doing Kingdom work. She is thriving in her environment of ministry! God is continuing to do a work in her life! For that I am thankful. But I'm also really thankful that this Independence Day weekend marked the half way point of her mission! We're coming into the home stretch now. And I'm really ready for that!