Day 20: Tomorrow Isn't Promised

Dear Little Princess,

Many years ago, I went to a ladies’ retreat at church.  The speaker (whose name I can’t remember now) shared how her beautiful 5-year-old baby girl was killed in a car accident.  I was only a teenager at the time of the conference and since I didn’t have children of my own yet, I probably wasn't fully aware of the difficulty it must have been for the speaker to share about her loss.  Thinking back now, though, I cannot imagine how terrible it would have been to lose a child like that.  As a mommy, I look forward to watching you grow up.  I pray for you.  I pray for your future husband.  I’m excited to see where you will end up in life.  I just assume that I’ll be able to see you grow into adulthood.

Truthfully, though, none of us is promised tomorrow.  I may not be around to see you mature into a lovely young woman, or you may not live to become an adult.  Those are sobering thoughts that no one wants to think about, but you need to know and understand that God has not promised any of us a tomorrow.

We’re often tempted to put off chores or decisions until tomorrow.  Sometimes, it’s okay to eat from the pantry and wait to run to the store until later in the week, but when it comes to following Christ, you should never wait.  Don’t assume that you’ll be able to start living for Him later on after “enjoying” life first.  You don’t know how long you’ll have to put your complete trust in Him.

I don’t like thinking about the possibility of death.  While I’m not at all afraid to die because I know my sins are forgiven and that I’m trusting in Jesus’ finished work on the Cross to save me, I still don’t enjoy the thought of dying.  But I also know that after the sting of death comes Heaven forever with Christ, and I cannot wait for that reunion.  My wish is that everyone here on Earth would turn to Christ before death and share Eternity with Him just as I will.  I want that for you, too.

And so, even though death is not a pleasant topic, I want to remind you not to wait to put your trust in the Savior.  My hope is that we will both live long lives here on Earth, that I will get to see not only you but your children and children’s children grow up.  Should that not be God’s plan – should I not have a tomorrow – I want to think about Eternity today and remind myself that His ways are not my ways.  They are far better, and when the thought of dying is uncomfortable, I can focus on His goodness and remember that no matter what happens here on Earth, the best is yet to come.

All my love,

Mommy