February 1, 2025. That was the day that one of the sweetest, and most godliest women that I have ever known, passed from death to life.
She just so happened to be my mother-in-law.
Dementia had taken a terrible grip on her life, and it was a daily struggle for not only her, but her family as well. She had been married for over 50 years, and there was never a sweeter testament to young love surviving half a century than Delbert and Mary.
When the Lord finally took her home, she was given a beautiful burial plot in the Veterans Cemetery in southeast Missouri. It is a beautiful and peaceful place right next to a lake with a little park bench.
It is a place where her husband goes twice a day, rain or shine, just to say hello and tell her about things. When we were in town a few days ago, we went with him to "visit" Mom.
I noticed that on one side of the headstone, there was the name of the husband or wife who had passed away first, and then the other side was reserved for the name of the spouse when they died.
Together in life and together in death.
It was a bittersweet visit, and as we left, my father-in-law said something that I will never forget. He said, "I've got my name on the headstone. It's got my start date on there, but not my end date."
That is something that we rarely think about.
Our end date. No one but the Lord knows when our last day on earth will be.
From before our first breath, he had already planned our last, and everything in between. Job 14:5 states that "...you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,..."
Because we know how quickly life can pass, we don't have very much time. We know that it is "mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:14)
The problem is not that life is short, the problem is the time that we waste.
Remember the lyrics to the old country song that said, "Live like you were dying?"
How depressing would that be? I don't want to live every day like I am dying, I want to live every day like I am more alive than ever before!
Life is meant to be lived and it is meant to have purpose. That fact often gets lost in the busyness and distractions of everyday life. So much so that one day we look up and twenty years have gone by and we are still the same person, doing the same thing, in the same place, with nothing of eternal value to show for all the years lived.
King David must have felt that way too, for he begged the Lord, “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!" (Psalm 39:4)
He wanted to be aware and reminded that this life is passing fast, and we have only one lifetime to make an impact on others. We have one lifetime to fulfill God's purpose.
We have one lifetime, and that lifetime isn't very long. It is a short precursor to eternity, so every day has to be lived with purpose.
Life should never be lived with sadness for the days that we will not have, but grateful for the days that we do.
Dawn Hayes is mother of 4, grandmother to 3 and she and her husband pastor at New Hope Assembly of God in Senatobia. She has been writing “Sips from the Well” since 2015.
