I don’t need to get trapped in my missed opportunities or missteps. That old saying of not spending too much time looking in the rear view mirror but casting your eyes toward the windshield is true. Wringing my hands over mistakes from the past wastes my time and I miss what my future holds. Whether someone is five years old or eighty-five years old there is a tomorrow to fill. So I need to be intentional about how I spend my time. What is my life verse? How do I want to live? How do I want people to remember me? Perhaps I should sit down and write my own obituary. What would that say? Would it be filled with how many levels I completed on the games on my phone or would it be about how I reached out to others and let them know how special they are to me? Would it include all the cool gadgets I bought on Amazon or the fact that I shared myself and what I have with others?
Chris Ynzunza told us to look around her home when we were moving to New Mexico and pick something to put in our new house. She did not have any restrictions on what we chose to take. Her gift was open to anything she owned. I chose a decorative light switch cover that reminded me of her. I placed it in my new laundry room and it always made me feel connected to her. Jenn gave me a water tumbler that she got at Buccees. I loved it and she gave it to me without a thought. When I look around my house, I see the love and caring of others that have gifted me with my most precious possessions. I want others to see me in the things I have gifted them and memories of times we spent together.
I have been going over in the mornings and helping Elissa get my two great-grandkiddos ready for daycare in the mornings. She appreciates the help getting them dressed and me bringing McDonald’s pancakes for breakfast. But I am the real winner. I get to know the kids a little better and they greet me with joy and a great, big hug. This time is planting their Noni in their hearts a little more each day. A couple days ago, I had them raise their hands and say WAHOO then I tickled their little armpits. It is something I did with Elissa’s dad and then with Elissa. It is important to me to share the little Noni~isms with my grandkids and now even greats. That is time well spent.
So what are your list of to do’s? I don’t mean grocery shopping or scrubbing toilets but the things that will bring you to mind now and when you are no longer here. My dad used to ask Cameron what did the bear get out of the tree? Cam would answer honey. Ryan was always cooking up delicious concoctions for us to try. He even brought a pizza he made to a restaurant one day when I was out with my girlfriends. It didn’t matter that we were already eating. His enthusiasm for us to try it won us over. It was tasty by the way.
I hope kids remember their Noni, please get my beefy legs, my spider fingers and spending time in the not so hot tub on the back porch. My pages from this day forward should be filled with others pouring into me as I pour into them. My grandgirl, Elissa, just walked in my house so that is my cue to stop typing and go enjoy the day with her. She gives me Friday mornings to hang out and help each other with tasks that take the two of us. What a gift!
In Him,
Joyful
2-6-26
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