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~ Is This What The Future Holds? ~

~ Is This What The Future Holds? ~

In the Bible, in the book of James, it says:

"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” 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 the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil."

The bottom line is that we do not know what the future holds. This became painfully clear to me the year my mother died.

In the last months of her life, she was living with my brother. He and I were estranged but she had let him know that it was important to her to stay in touch with me. I lived in Oklahoma and they were living in Georgia at that time. He had made a rule that I could talk to her on the phone while he was at work. We consistently followed his rule.

It was December 23, 2014. Mommy and I were talking on the phone. I did not know what my brother's work schedule would be over the holidays so I decided this would be our last conversation for the year. I explained my decision to her. I did not want to upset my brother and risk losing the privilege of having regular phone conversations with my mother. I explained that since neither of us knew my brother's schedule for the next week, I would call her after the holidays.

"After the holidays" would be after New Year's Day. I told Mommy, "I will talk to you next year!" I thought I was being clever but I was really being foolish. I did not know what the future held. I should have said, "Lord-willing, I will talk to you next year."

My mother died on New Year's Eve. That phone conversation on December 23, 2014 would be not only our last conversation of the year, it was our last conversation this side of heaven. I have talked to her many times since then but it is no longer a two way conversation. These days, I am very mindful of the fact that I do not know what the future holds.



Written for "Write An Essay About..." 
Prompt: Write an essay about what the future holds...
Word Count: 405 Words

~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~