Precious Memories

Job 14:1,5 – Man that is born of a woman is of few days. His days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bonds that he cannot pass. (KJV)

1 Chronicles 29:15 – We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. (NIV)

Margaret, my beautician, was also my good friend. She was always eager to accommodate her customers and to go the second mile to meet their needs and their schedules. She was more like a member of the family than a shopkeeper who fixed hair for a price. She arranged her schedule for me to come at 7:15 a.m. for a comb-out so I could be at work by eight. I wasn't the only special customer. Her shop was full at this early morning hour with people who wanted to look good at work that day.

One morning, there was a sign on the door. She was in the hospital, but would see us next week, the sign read. The next week, our friend, just 45, with big plans for her future, was dead. She had worked hard to buy a home in which her shop was located. She had done the remodelling herself in her spare time. Her house and shop and things she'd collected were sold and used to pay for her final expenses.

Those who knew her well knew she'd left a lot of valuable memories to the world, even in her short life span. She lived, worked, and loved for a full life.

David in 1 Chronicles has said that life is like a shadow, like a fleeting cloud moving across the face of the sun. Margaret cast a lot of shadows of memory into our lives as she lived out her brief time in the sun.

May we so live our lives that even if we go suddenly and early, we will have blessed those we touched, and made their lives brighter for having passed this way. If we accomplish this, our lives will not have been lived in vain.

Prayer: Lord, You know when our appointed time to die will be. We ask You to help us be prepared to die at whatever hour You call us. Help us to live in such a way that others are blessed by our having touched their lives. Amen.

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