Teach Us to Use Wisely All the Time We Have

It was a hot summer day in 1971 and two care-free 8 year old girls, one with blonde hair, the other brown, were running, playing, laughing, doing what 8 year old girls do, in the basement of the brown hair girl’s home.

As they were playing, they found an abandoned freezer which opened from the top. They thought it would be fun to make the freezer their own little hideaway. They climbed in and giggled and laughed and told scary stories and told each other who they thought was the cutest boy in school. It was their own little secret world where no one else knew where they were.

When they had had enough of the dark, they decided it was time to get out. When they tried, the latch had shut and the two little girls were trapped in an airtight freezer with very little oxygen left.

They screamed and yelled and screamed and yelled some more. They prayed and sang Sunday school songs and then screamed and yelled some more.

The little blonde girl had asthma and she struggled to breathe. She began to pass out, so the little brown haired girl would sing and pray louder while pushing her back as hard as her little 8 year old body could push against the top of the freezer, trying to get precious air for her best friend.

The blonde girl’s asthma overcame her and she passed out, while the brown haired girl would pass out and then wake up and start to pray and sing once more. 

Meanwhile, the brown haired girl’s mother, who had been frantically searching for them, heard an audible voice from God saying, “Go to the basement!”

So she did. She heard the cry of her daughter and lifted the freezer door to find her beautiful dark haired girl barely breathing, while the little blonde girl was not breathing at all.

They never could revive the little blonde girl, but the little brown haired girl lived. It is a day she has remembered the rest of her life. She will never forget her best friend with the beautiful blonde hair. “Safe with Jesus” was the theme of her funeral.

She does not know why God took her blonde haired friend home so early. She doesn’t know why God wanted her to stay. But she does know this. Every day is a gift. 

How do I know this? Because the little brown haired girl is my wife.

There is a prayer in the Bible by Moses which says, “Teach us to use wisely all the time we have.”

Here are some ideas to live wisely with the precious time we have:

Stop and thank God, right now, for the gift of life. 

Call, text or email someone who has positively impacted your life and tell them how they have blessed you.

Forgive someone who has hurt you.

Forgive yourself.

Smile, laugh, sing, dance…in front of a mirror.

Inhale deeply and feel the breath of life.

Write down the many things you are grateful for.

Tell your kids how much you love them! (Even though they drive you crazy.)

Listen to a song that brings back great memories and sing it as loud as you can.

Turn off your smartphone and play cards or a board game with family and friends.

Pray for those around you and around the world who are less fortunate.

Read a book.

Spend more time learning and less time knowing it all.

Look for someone during the day to compliment and encourage.

Serve at a local food bank.

Exercise.

Invite someone over for dinner who never gets invited anywhere.

Do something you have been putting off.

Stand against injustice.

Wake up every day praying the prayer of Moses, “Teach us to use wisely all the time we have.”

Live fully. Passionately. Courageously. 

Don’t let a day go by without living and breathing in the awe of His Grace.