106

I recently applied for life insurance, because I am a grown up and that is the responsible thing to do.  Part of the whole process is a lovely nurse coming to your home and doing a whole lab work up of blood and urine tests and taking my weight, pulse and blood pressure. Although I am a pretty healthy girl, I still was anxious as the sweet nurse took all of my vitals and drew my blood; I guess you just never know what they could find!
My Grandaddy is an insurance agent and put together my policy for me.  A couple of weeks following my tests while I was at his house he said, "Listen, baby. We got your results back. You passed with flying colors!  106!" I was puzzled.  "106?" I queried.  "Yup, they say you're gonna live to be 106!"
Oh dear!  I'm not sure I can hack another 77 years of this world!  When telling one of my friends about this, she jokingly said, "You need to eat more Mc Donalds!"
God has had me in Genesis lately, and just today I read about the genealogy from Adam to Noah.  We are talking about a time when the median age of death was 900 years old!  Then there is a verse that I had never taken much note of before, Genesis 6:3 "Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years."  As a child of God, death is a GRACE!  Because we are flesh, because we are living in a fallen world where sin reigns, God doesn't make us endure this forever.  Instead, we have HOPE that this is NOT the end!  Whew, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  However, I must couple that truth with Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  I want every moment that God chooses to keep me here on Earth to have great purpose for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If I lose sight of this purpose, then I fall prey to Satan's lies that this life is meaningless, and I will sit idle just waiting for Heaven rather than partaking in the great plan that God has for my life, be it 36 years or 106 years.
The past 2.5 years have been brutal for our family.  We have held our bay girl, Charlotte, only to say goodbye, we never got to hold our baby, Hope, my vibrant Momma has been diagnosed with an ugly disease that is stealing her personality and memory, and overall, life has just been hard.  It is enough that without Jesus, we would check out and be done!  106 years of this would really be more than I could handle!  However, I again have to cling to truth; Isaiah 46:10, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."  Not a single day goes by that my God is not fighting for me and holding me together, for I surely cannot do it alone.  He is using the story He has written for our family to speak volumes to others of His faithfulness and His love as He carries us through some very dark days.  I have to trust that however many years He has planned for me is perfect; they were all written before one of them came to be, and it is my hope to live them well. And maybe I'll opt for the McFlurry over the Yogurt Parfait with a little less guilt the next time I feel the need for McDonalds!