How to Live Your Life Backwards

I’m standing at the end of the long road.

The road with twists and turns.  There were potholes along the way.  At times the road was straight… unremarkable.  There were hills… they sloped upwards to steep mountains.  Then, the road down… the exhilarating rush down… the side views but a blur.  This road well-travelled.

I’m standing at the end of this road.

He puts His hands on my shoulders and turns me gently around,

Look back

What do you see?

What if, when we get to the end of this life’s road… what if God asks us to turn around?  Turn around and look at it.

What would you do differently?

Would you give thanks for the potholes… because when you climbed out, you appreciated the flat road?  Would you work harder to climb the hills, knowing that the mountains they might become… would burn?  Would you slow down on the downhill glide… and pay attention to what was standing on the side of the road?

I’ve been thinking about this…

What if I could live my life backwards?

What if I could turn around at the end… change it… do it differently?

What would I do differently?

If I stood at the end of the road and looked back… what would I do differently?

1. Call my mom more
2. Run to the door and hug my husband every time he comes home
3. Turn off the TV
4. And the computer
5. Play dolls and dress up with my little girls… regularly
6. Play Legos… like I am 10 years old, and trains… like I am 5
7. Go running… alone
8. Take a walk… with my whole six pack
9. Clean less
10. Get a Facebook account… just to see what my brother is up to these days
11. Tell more people how awesome Jesus is, no matter how awkward I feel… because He is… and it matters that much
12. Rock my baby… just a little bit longer
13. Stay in touch with old friends… better
14. Buy less for Christmas… give more to those who can’t
15. Show my kids that giving is WAY better than receiving
16. Sponsor more children
17. Write more letters… on real paper, with real pens
18. Say “in just a second…” and mean “in just a second…”
19. Go on more dates with my warrior
20. Take my kids on a date… one. by. one.
21. Pray more… on my knees
22. Read the Bible… every single day… with my kids
23. Assume less… ask more
24. Forgive… just forgive
25. Say “sorry” … and mean it
26. Accept “sorry” … and let it go
27. Ride a bike, with my little ones, while they are little
28. Spend more time at the beach
29. Play outside… instead of watching them through the window
30. Play board games… every time they ask
31. Have desert for dinner… on Fridays.  Because it’s Friday.
32. Give thanks to Him… without ceasing
33. Say I Love You… every chance I get
34. Let my kids know that I don’t have all the answers… God does.
35. Thank Him… that I can look back and still have time to do all this

What would you do differently?

If you are reading this…

you can.

 

Philippians 3:12-13

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead