Any Given Day

James 4:13-15 “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.’”

Some have asked lately if things were looking up for us as they see pictures of Jacob apparently doing well on the blog. They assume that since he looks good and is gaining weight and has made it this far that perhaps there’s more hope than when we first began. The truth is… nothing has changed. Statistically and mathematically there is no hope. Jacob is a boy with Trisomy 18 which is a condition that usually takes their lives early. But the bottom line is that Jacob is a boy … a human boy… and eventually all our lives end. Nothing has changed. Statistically and mathematically there is no hope. Of course our faith in God has not changed either. So hope remains. Our hope is not only in a God who can do miracles and prolong Jacob’s life should He choose to do so, but also in a God who is merciful and loving enough to care for Jacob beyond this world when it comes time. That time still could come any day. It won’t necessarily be a steady digression… it could happen any night. Nothing has changed. We continue to live in the uncertainty which is Jacob. We’ve created a memory book of photos for Jacob and the front cover has his life verse printed on it… Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”
We’ve had so many people contact us and let us know how Jacob’s story has impacted their lives and how his life has changed theirs. That’s truly encouraging and just one evidence of one of the little reasons that God brought him into this world. We’re kind of forced into living and appreciating one day at a time and I wonder how many of you reading have taken the time to consider doing the same. Every day. It’s a gift. Someone once told me that you should sit down and write your own obituary or what you want printed on your tombstone. What would you want people to say about you after you died? If you can write that down, then you have a mission statement for your life. Is what you’re doing right now contributing to or taking away from that statement? If you truly want people to say that you loved your family, then what are you doing today to love your family? Wouldn’t it be a shame if that was your goal but instead your tombstone read “Worked a lot,” “Loved Bowling” or “Unfaithful”? The truth is many people put off things that are important thinking that they will have time to fix it later in life. Most never do. Our life is a puff of smoke that appears for a moment and vanishes away. We never know when our last day will be.
We’ve tossed that idea around our house lately… If we could, would we want to know when Jacob’s last day was or not? Karen says that she could hardly stand the pressure of just knowing when his birthday was going to be! I guess the point is that if we’re living each day as we should, then it shouldn’t matter what day it happens.

Hebrews 9:27-28 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”