This Little Light Of Mine

I sit this morning and think about the people that pop in and out of my life. There one day, gone the next. In a virtual world (and I promise I am not going to get hung up on this), it is so easy for any one person to be your friend or follower for any length of time and then suddenly disappear with zero to little explanation. The same thing can happen with friends in the real world. People simply lose track of each other. The whole thing brings to mind a verse out of Psalms (144:4):

 Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

I remember an illustration I once gave to a junior high class. I stood in front of a group of 7/8th graders, lit a match, and blew it out. I drew their attention to the wisps of smoke that escaped from the extinguished burnt end... thick at first, but then slowly drifting and trailing away to nothing until all that was left was the faint smell of smoke in the air. I then proceeded to tell them that was a picture of their life.

Yeah. I am one ray of sunshine in the classroom.

Life is so fleeting, though, isn't it? We never know what the next turn will bring and we never fully understand why we had to make that turn to begin with. I loved my grandma like crazy, you all know that. I talk about her often and hope I never stop, but the simple fact remains that she is no longer here. Her time, her purpose, her existence on this earth came and went with the passing of eighty-nine years. She closed her eyes in this world and opened them in the next.

Oh, where would we be without that hope?

I think about my life. Am I fulfilling my role or simply going through the motions while the match stays lit, so to speak. Do I pop in and out of people's lives without making a mark, without leaving anything behind besides the smell of a burnt match? Am I easily forgettable or am I like a nagging pain in someone's head that they can't easily get rid of? Yeah, that thought makes me chuckle this early in the morning, but I have to say that I would rather be a pain than forgotten.

Wow. I do wonder where the thoughts in my head come from at times.

I want to be a good wife and mother and all that goes with that, but I also want to be a good friend and a mentor and somebody that makes you think. I want to me that person that points the way to the Lord, not because I wear a Jesus shirt or a Jesus pin or thump you over the head with my bible. I want you to know that without Him, I would be nothing. He saved me when I didn't deserve it; He led me when I wouldn't listen; and He holds my hand when I cry.

He's the light on the end of my match except His flame never goes out.

It just moves on to light the next one when my match burns out.

Kinda like passing the torch forward, huh?