Long Time, No See

Well hello there!  It has been a while!  As I began to try and remember how to post to this blog, I found myself unable to even login.  I have a couple different email addresses that I use, one for personal, one for "business" and one that was hacked a couple years back so I do not even use it anymore.  For the life of me, I couldn't remember which one I had used to create this blog.  But as you can see, I tried and tried until one of them worked and voila, here I am!

I have been thinking about blogging again for a while now but would never slow down long enough to collect my thoughts and type something.  Once I was able to login, I realized it has been well over a year (almost 2) since I have posted anything!  Seems like something else is always vying for my attention!  (Funny thing is, at this very minute, it has been 4 hours since I typed "Well hello there!" above).  Why?  Well, because life has happened.  I have counseled with a dear friend who is experiencing a "bump" in life; returned some phone calls; taken some phone calls and chatted with some people who have dropped by my office!  In the middle of all this, lunchtime has happened so I grabbed a warm bowl of potato soup and chatted with Rachelle, our church administrative assistant.

Was any of this bad?  No, not at all.  Life just ticked away.  It just happens.

Sometimes I wish we could press the pause button don't you?  Unfortunately, that button isn't afforded to us.  Life just continues to tick away.  But there is something I want you to ponder for a minute or two: as our life is ticking away...how are we living the ticks?  What do our "ticks" represent?  Are the "ticks" building others up or tearing them down?  Are our "ticks" productive?

There is a poem I read not long ago that I want to share with you.  All of our "ticks" add up to our dash.  And so, if you are reading this, you are living your dash!

 ~~ HOW DID YOU LIVE YOUR DASH?~~

 I read of a man who stood to speak 

 At the funeral of a friend 
 He referred to the dates on her tombstone 
 From the beginning...to the end. 
 
 He noted that first came her date of birth 
 And spoke the following date with tears, 
 But he said what mattered most of all 
 Was the dash between those years. (1934 -2000) 
 
 For that dash represents all the time 
 That she spent alive on earth... 
 And now only those who loved her 
 Know what that little line is worth. 
 
 For it matters not, how much we own; 
 The cars...the house...the cash, 
 What matters is how we live and love 
 And how we spend our dash. 
 
 So think about this long and hard... 
 Are there things you'd like to change? 
 For you never know how much time is left, 
 That can still be rearranged. 
 
 If we could just slow down enough 
 To consider what's true and real, 
 And always try to understand 
 The way other people feel. 
 
 And be less quick to anger, 
 And show appreciation more 
 And love the people in our lives 
 Like we've never loved before. 
 
 If we treat each other with respect, 
 And more often wear a smile.. 
 Remembering that this special dash 
 Might only last a little while. 
 
 So, when your eulogy's being read 
 With your life's actions to rehash... 
 Would you be proud of the things they say 
 About how you spent your dash?

So what about the "ticks" that are being added to our dash?  Are we using those ticks to make an impact on the kingdom of God?  

Just something to ponder......

Until next time...