Pondering the subject of life. That would be a deep subject for my shallow mind.

Good morning and welcome to Tuesday, October 27, 2020. Life. It can and typically does present us all with many perplexing and challenging circumstances. I heard someone mentioning how there are many parents who lament that some of their children grow up and go away from their upbringing, especially in the area of faithfulness to God. This person went on to say we need to think about God's created first family. Adam and Eve. They were created in a perfect environment and they had the Perfect Father. How did that turn out? We should know. Right? We deal with the results of their rebellion reflected in our own fallen lives each and every day. That person's point was how folks have to make their own decisions even after parents have done their best to point them in the right direction. But, we move on. Another week and guess what? Another hurricane is churning its way out in the Gulf of Mexico. Zeta is headed, based on current projections, towards the eastern Louisiana coast, Mississippi, and Alabama. We have many friends and close relatives who live in Louisiana and they are all, once again, on edge as this storm makes its way towards land. Is it any wonder the people over there are singing, 'Why is everybody picking on me?'

Life is not just a board game. Here are a few notable insights as found in these quotations:  ~ "Life is a question and how we live it is our answer." Gary Keller ~ "Keep looking up… that’s the secret of life." Snoopy ~ "Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well." Jack London ~ "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get." Forrest Gump ~ "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'". Erma Bombeck ~ "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Friedrich Nietzsche ~ "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." George Washington Carver ~ "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." Jackie Robinson ~ And, the final word always comes from the Creator Himself: Book of James, Chapter 4: "13 Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." ~

Okay. I know I am running a little late. I could go into a detailed explanation as to why, but, when it is all said it done, life doesn't always unfold on our schedule. I am thankful there are some unchanging and unshakable truths to help keep us grounded. We don't have to look very far at all to see others who have a lot more on their plates than we do. I wrote about little June-Bug and how she is dealing with brain cancer treatments. That's one example. When I read the journaled notes from her mom I am reminded of our time spent with my baby sister Kayla as she went through her treatments. Our hearts and prayers go out to them as they are still trying to assimilate this great challenge. The Good News? The graphic above says it all. He does know. He does care. And, more importantly, He can do something about it. Amen. .....More later.