Every Wednesday during these weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day the Family Life Series will be featured here at Six Bricks High.  Several super bloggers are lined up to share their thoughts on all things family. 

Today’s post is written by Jamie of See Jamie Blog.  Jamie is so very cool!  Her name is only one of the many cool things about her.  I know you are going to love her!   

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The Time is Short

Next summer, my step-son Brandon is getting married. Married!

My oldest daughter Lindsey is 16 and learning to drive.

Every day I notice some new way that my youngest, 10-year-old Kathryn, is fast-becoming a young lady.

These milestones are happening too quickly for my tastes! Brandon was 13 when I married his dad. I remember him confiding to me about a girl he liked at school — but now he’s almost twenty, and planning his wedding.

Lindsey was already 14 when we adopted her from foster care. Though at some point every parent realizes that the time they have with their children is relatively short in the grand scheme of things, that’s an even bigger reality with Lindsey!

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. I recently read of a woman told by doctors she had only a few months to live; she immediately set out to teach her children the most important things she’d want them to know, and to prepare the older ones for helping teach the younger ones. As it turned out, the doctors were wrong and she’s been blessed with getting to know not only her children, but her many grandchildren, too.

Thinking about this, though, has made me ask myself some hard questions: How would I live, what would I teach my children, how would I treat my husband, if I had only months to live?

And an even harder question: Why am I not already living that way? Since only the good Lord knows how many days I have on this earth, why not enthusiastically live out my days — however many I may have been given?

I learned much from a young man named John, even though I only knew him briefly. He made a profound impression, I think, on everyone who ever knew him. Every time I catch myself taking my life — or my days — for granted, I remember John. He was only 21 when he went to be with Jesus, but he lived his life unabashedly and enthusiastically for Christ. He’d battled a rare form of cancer since he was a child, and he knew he didn’t have time to waste in this life. And neither do we.

So I’m seeking to be more purposeful in my parenting, in my marriage, in my life.

The days are short. What will you choose to do with them?

Jamie is a wife, homemaker, and blended-family mama who never ventures far from a steaming hot mug of tea! Visit her at See Jamie blog or catch up with her on twitter.  

I hope you have enjoyed this post in the Family Life Series. 
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