Life is precious.

Why something so obvious needs to be said is beyond my scope of understanding.

But it’s true.  Humanly speaking, we often take life for granted.  We live like today–this moment–is all that matters.  We scurry through the day with our own agenda and hardly give thought to what opportunities we might be missing or what others are going through–because our focus is on ourselves.

And sometimes, when life is hanging on by a thread, we realize what truly matters–for a while… until the next moment or the next day and it seems we’ve been given another chance to appreciate what we have.

My point is, when all is stripped away, when we’re not even guaranteed our next breath, what really matters?

The love of family, of friends, of God.

We hold on to love.  To what we know is good and true and pure and right.

I am reminded in this season of love to be grateful that I serve a living God that never leaves us truly alone.  I’m not just talking about a life partner, but friends and family, and those in our world that choose to love.  To be the hands and feet of Jesus.  To love us when we’re unlovely.  To stand beside us when we struggle.  To pick us up when we fall. To weep when we weep.

Life is in constant forward motion, whether we like it or not.  Facing the future is often difficult, and going back is not an option, so what to we do when we struggle to see good things to come?

We choose love.  We choose the path of love.  We don’t have to like all that we foresee, but we can love that God has it all in His hands.

We can trust His heart and His plan.  If all we do is strain toward the future, always wanting more–more of what we don’t have, we can easily lose focus on what we DO have.

I know that life is often hard, and I have dear friends that are going through unimaginable pain right now–and I in no way want to sound trivial.  As I grieve with them, I am reminded this day to be thankful for each day that God gives me–to enjoy the good times and to lean on each other and the Lord in the hard times.  We don’t have to go through the valley alone.

And so, to the friends and family of our dear Uncle John, to the family of sweet baby Malachi, and to the several that I know that are walking through a battle with cancer:  You are not alone.