TOMORROW
Scripture: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth (Proverbs 27:1 NKJV).
Amateur poets often write about “tomorrow,” probably because it rhymes with “sorrow.” Philosophers talk as if it were a mountain we could conquer if we just make it through today. Educators teach children to prepare for tomorrow by doing their best today. But all of us have known instant, world-shattering change that erased all our preparations. Unexpected change comes without warning to turn our dreams into nightmares and our tomorrows into devastating tsunamis.
On one terrible day in 1986, a routine chest X-ray showed cancer in my husband’s chest. The bright tomorrows Tommy and I had planned were not to be. From that moment, every “today” became precious. Love he’d been too busy to express, he now shared with me and his sons. Those words carried us all through the “tomorrows” we thought we could not bear.
I would give the world for one more “today.” I’d like to play dominoes again until the wee hours. I’d like him to read stories again to our grandchildren while I doze in my recliner. I’d like to go fishing with him again, even if we never caught a fish. I wish his great-grandchildren could know him. But his legacy of love lives on, because he spent his “todays” well.
Each moment of today is a jewel, to be used as God Himself guides. As the beautiful hymn reminds us, “I don’t know about tomorrow . . . but I know Who holds my hand.” May my own journal, whether written on paper or only my heart, show that I spent today lovingly and well.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, may I please you in the way I use these priceless moments today.
I read of a soldier in World War II, pinned down by enemy fire, who found a crucifix in his foxhole. When the backup troops finally arrived, a chaplain was among them. The soldier frantically held up the gold cross and cried out, “Preacher, I’m so glad to see you! How do you make this […]
Read More →My husband and I sold supplies to commercial fishermen on Dickinson Bay and had many friends in the fishing community. One man, however, resisted all attempts at friendliness. “Red” trapped and sold crabs, and he had the disposition of those unpleasant creatures. If someone said, “Good morning,” he was sure to growl, “What’s good about […]
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Read More →Scripture: Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” When I was small, our family moved to a farm in southwestern Kansas, where my parents grew almost everything we ate. Mama raised a lot of chickens, both for meat and for eggs. One side of the chicken house […]
Read More →Scripture: “Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed” (John 20:6-8 NLT). At that moment, […]
Read More →Scripture: Jesus’s words to Peter, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19 NASB); words of the Risen Christ, “I have the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:13 NASB). In both these scriptures, keys are mentioned. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. What were these? […]
Read More →Scripture: “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT). I read of a storekeeper who posted a sign warning, “Beware of the dog!” A puzzled customer looked around and saw only an ancient basset hound sleeping in the middle […]
Read More →Scripture: [When Peter tried to walk to Jesus on the water and found himself sinking] Immediately Jesus extended His hand and caught him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31 AMP) I might hold the world’s record for almost drowning. I never learned to swim. It looks like so much fun, I […]
Read More →Scripture: [from one of St Paul’s letter from prison} ” . . . in chains for the gospel . . .” (Philemon 1:13 NIV). We know from Bible history that St Paul spent several years in Roman prisons, including several years under house arrest chained between two guards. Every so many hours, these soldiers finished […]
Read More →Scripture: “With God, nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37 KJV). I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. On Saturday nights, cars filled with teenagers cruised from one end of Main Street to the other, honking, laughing, and flirting. We called this “dragging Main.” While the noise annoyed adults, this was much less dangerous than […]
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