Three weeks. Where will you be in three weeks? What are your plans? The future you are planning? Three weeks. It’s all they gave her. Raylene will spend the next three weeks planning her own funeral.
If given the same news, what would I do? Hug a little tighter? Kiss a little longer? Laugh harder? Does one spend the last few weeks cherishing the memories made or regret the dreams never lived? Do the tears flow in sadness or in celebration of the life given? When time is short does patience get longer? Does wonder and amazement grow or does the world become small and confining? Is there hope in the hopeless?
Three weeks. What does one do when given the news you fought for years not to receive? The fight was hard and you fought with all your might and then some more. Strength came from an unexplainable place. Determination coupled with sheer will paved the road of perseverance and yet it wasn’t enough. After climbing the Mountain of Impossibility you reach the top only to discover it is in fact, impossible. The finish line is close and clearly seen. There is victory in the fight, but not in the battle. The battle is over and you stand defeated.
But not hopeless. Raylene is a believer and will soon be able to ask Jesus the question she must’ve asked herself a 1,000 times – why. Sometimes I sure it was out of anger, at times –despair, and still other times in awe, but the question was always the same. Why. And He will tell her. For reasons we can not fathom, He will tell her how her fight was used to show other’s Hope.
Three weeks. No more springs, no more summers, no more falls. There will be no more camping trips, summer vacations or family reunions. There is only today. It is all any of us are ever given. Today. That is all she has. That is all I have. Today.
The room around me buzzes with young family chatter. My boys play and laugh and fight. Three weeks. Today. How much I take things for granted. How many times today have I forgotten to acknowledge the moment I am in? Or worse, wished for it to be over. What did I do, or how did I enjoy the day I was given today?
Three weeks. Today. Celebrate the life given. Today.
