PC Alisha Mullett

When our children were struggling with their chronic health conditions, I was stuck in the survival mindset. Just waiting for things to settle down. Longing for the days when our children would be healed, and we could hopefully experience a “normal” life like everyone else seemed to be living. But the challenging days dragged into difficult months, which unexpectedly dragged into years of on-going – and sometimes extreme – stress. Years and moments had slipped away. Never to be relived. And I wasn’t savoring them. I was subconsciously waiting for the ideal life I wanted to begin. And while I was hoping against hope for that day, my life was slipping through my fingers like the grains of a sandy shore. Never to be recaptured.

“Life is what happens when you’re waiting for your life to begin.” 

I recently heard this quote from pastor Ron Dunn, and it resonated with me. I can so easily identify.

A year ago, my best friend of twenty-some years suddenly went to meet her Maker. During one of our last conversations, she told me how she was struggling with her injured foot that was limiting her activities. She said,  “Oh Cindy, I’m just so ready to get my life back again.” I knew what she was talking about. Any of us who’ve faced struggles of any kind can relate. Little did either of us know that just a few days later, Marilyn would go into a comma from a brain tumor that no one knew she had. She passed a short time later. It was such a reminder that none of us know which moments will be our last. Thankfully, Marilyn did fully live her life, making the most of her moments and had deeply invested in her family and those around her.

Our son, Austin, was the one who showed me the most how to live and be grateful for each of our God-given moments. Regardless of the circumstances, the way he courageously faced his two heart transplants, two aggressive, deadly cancers, alopecia universals, allergies (and even death) while loving every shortly-lived moment, continues to touch and challenge me. He will always be my hero.

As I was having my devotions this morning, I was reminded of how we underestimate why God allows us to face challenging and troubling moments. Can’t you see how the times that David wrote his most powerful psalms and seemed the closest to God was while he was running for his life? It was when his life became more comfortable, that he stumbled into sin with Bathsheba. When life became more normal and settled for Noah after years of laboring in building the ark and surviving the catastrophic flood, he became a drunkard. Do you realize we are more prone to fall into sin after our difficult time ends and life settles down?

PC Alisha Mullett

After several years of our health struggles, I came to the point of thanking God for the gift of today, even though the future was uncertain. Yet even today, my heart cries out, “Oh God, I’ve messed up so many of my moments. Help me to realize I’m creating my life right now.” This moment is my life. What I do and say in this moment is creating my history. I will someday look back at these imperfect moments and deeply long for them again. And so will you.

While we’re desperately attempting to create the wonderful life that others seem to have, we’re missing the one we have. Today. In perfecting our future life, our limited breaths are slipping away. Like sifting sand within the hour glass. But our life is now. We are not promised tomorrow.

If you’re finding yourself in a difficult circumstance, you are an easy target for the enemy of your soul to steal away your life; your precious moments. You’re probably unaware of how your life is currently slipping away. Don’t give into the temptation of not living fully within your moments.

Speak those words of blessing. Show those demonstrations of love. Be quick to say, “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you”. Hold your loved ones a little tighter. Laugh a little more. Hug a bit longer. Live more fully. Pray more fervently. Be much more grateful. For this moment is your life. Your current struggles are not the end…they are only the beginning of the rest of your life.

Your life is a gift from your Maker. Live it well. And in your living, you will give back the praise to the One who made it possible.

~Cindy (For The Mullett Family)

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