Life is short...

I wrote what follows a few hours ago - I'm not sure what it is that set me off and got me so hot...I considered not posting it - just hit delete - but I think I'll go ahead and post it....maybe others will stop and say "hmmmm" like I did....

I'm sure that all of you, like me, have heard the saying "Life is short..." I know I hear it almost every day and I'm sure many others are nodding their heads and saying "yep - heard it!". It occurred to me the other day, however, that most of the times when you hear someone say it (okay, I admit it - or say it myself), it's usually a very selfish thing that follows. Like, Life is short, eat dessert first. Or Life is too short to not take that vacation we want. My thought was...why don't we ever say what life is REALLY too short for? Life is too short to spend keeping up with the Jones' (sorry Mary!)...or Life is too short NOT to praise God for every day you can wake up healthy and happy. I look at all these natural disasters - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the earthquake in Pakistan, etc, etc, etc - and I think about these folks - just like us - who now have nothing. How do they feel when someone walks past them, and says Man, life is just to short for (use your imagination here). They now have no home, no belongings, no money, no food, no water...they may have lost loved ones or beloved pets...I look around at the small apartment my husband and son and I share - the one that I have complained about and huffed about and whined about - and I drop to my knees and give thanks to God that we have what we have...every morning I look at that beautiful mountain (and on days like today, with the seasons first snow - it is breathtaking!) and I say a prayer: Thank you Jesus for opening my eyes and letting me see the everyday miracles you give us - Thank you for keeping us safe and healthy - Thank you for giving us a roof over our heads and food on the table. I will think twice before I say Life is too short again. I will get down off my soapbox now.