Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
My grandpa turned 85 years old on Sunday. I called and got to chat with him just a little. Had a fun birthday planned with his family (my mom & dad, aunt & uncle, and a couple others) and told me he doesn’t think 85 is that old.
But it is.
It’s odd, but all I’ve been thinking when I think about him, or see the photos my dad sent along from the party is that his time here with us is probably pretty short. I know, it could be 10 or 15 years, which really is a good long time to enjoy, but it’s a pretty short time, too.
Life passes too quickly.
Today is the 11th anniversary of the day that Jen and I chose to marry. Eleven years. That’s a pretty long time. Today is also the 14th wedding anniversary of some friends of ours. That’s a long time. My dad is celebrating his 40th high school reunion this year. A friend celebrated his 50th not long ago. Jen’s parents celebrated 50 years of marriage a couple weeks ago.
Time passes. It just keeps moving on. And for some reason I am noticing that right now.
I am noticing that Grandpa may not be around much longer, and that makes me want to spend more time with him. I am noticing that Ian is not a little boy anymore. He’s going to turn 10 in a few months. He’s getting older, and experiencing life as Ian Campbell, not just our child. And that makes me want to spend more time with him.
What I am noticing – and have learned in my 33 years of life – is that spending time with people is the most important thing. I have learned also that all things in life must be balanced, but when all is finished, the most important thing is to just love and be loved. (As is evidenced by my just wanting to spend time with the people who are getting older faster than I want them to.)
The hope of those of us who live with Jesus is that the “end” that we are all rushing toward is not really an end at all, but a beginning. That life only changes – and for the better – when we reach the threshold between this life and the next. Grandpa has been a rough character at many times in my life, but he’s my grandpa, and I love him, and sometimes I imagine what it will be like when we both – in our new bodies and complete selves – can, along with the other Redeemed, enjoy the eternal “now” of full life with Jesus. (Now we see darkly…)
I can’t know what happens after we die. The Bible is full of hopeful language of resurrection and paradise and life with no more badness. And life with people we love here. No more curse, no more sin, no more death. Seems a good place to be.
We’re not there yet, but the older I get, the faster it seems we’re headed there.
Who knows, maybe we’ll be there sooner than I think? 🙂
Enjoy the time you have with those who are around you. Call up your grandpa and tell him you love him. Spend time with your son, or dad, or mom, or daughter, or spouse…
Today’s as good a time to do that.