MY 500 WORDS: Day 5

"So teach us to number our days aright, 

that we may present to you a heart of wisdom."

—Psalm 90:12, NAS

This is the Day

Today My 500 Words writer’s challenge is to write about the most important day of my life―to describe a day I will never forget. Attempting to declare one day or life event more important than any other is, indeed, an extreme challenge.

I consider the first day I sat in kindergarten across the table from the little girl in a pretty orange dress with a lace butterfly on the collar. I relive the day I moved as an eleven-year-old with my family to a new home 750 miles away. I recall the death of my father when I was twenty-one and more recently the death of my mother who was a vital part of my life for sixty-two years. I remember my high school graduation and exchanging my small hometown life for the unknown adventures of art school in the big city of Atlanta. I reminisce about the day I said, “yes,” to my soul mate and, “I will,” to him on our wedding day. I delight again over the joyous birth of our first child who was without a doubt the most beautiful baby girl in the world, perfect in every way. I reflect on the bittersweet birth of our precious second daughter born with Down syndrome and the challenging days that stretched ahead of us. There is no shortage of important life-altering events within my sixty plus years and none that I can deem more important than another outside of the day I acknowledged Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord. All of them have ushered me to this moment in time and have added toward molding me into the person God designed me to be.

So, which day do I choose as the most important day of my life? In view of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote, “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of your year,” I choose today.

Have you ever taken the time to number your days? Today, as I write this, I am 23,995 days old. It sounds as if Methuselah is my next of kin, doesn’t it? According to the U. S. Social Security Administration’s life expectancy calculator, I can expect to live another 20.9 years, or another 7,629 days. When I look at that number in relation to the days I’ve already lived, it puts my life in sobering perspective. It reminds me to slow down, breathe, spend time with my family and friends, do those things that spring from my heart and steal quiet moments with the Father of time. The previous moment has passed, and the subsequent moment may never come. This moment is all I have. This moment is my life and this day is my most important day.

Consider the brevity of life and devote your heart to true wisdom―a wisdom that God imparts to us through his Holy Spirit in those quiet moments with him. Stop keeping track of the moments and start numbering your days “aright.” Make each moment count for eternity.

“This is the day the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” ―Psalm 118:24, NLT

U. S. Social Security Administration’s life expectancy calculator website: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/population/longevity.html

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Which day would you consider the most important day of your life?

I always welcome your comments.

Blessings, 

Starr


Day 5: Check! 566 words. 
Challenge: Write about the most important day of your life.