Hourglass

We are all given an hourglass at conception. It’s hard to think about it that way, but I have children I’ve never met because their sand slipped through the glass faster than I had hoped it would. I wanted them to have huge glasses with plenty of sand, but it was not meant to be. Those children taught me so much and teach me still even after they’ve been gone for so long. 

So often we take life for granted. We lament what we don’t have, things we’ve lost, regrets and mistakes we’ve made, but we don’t appreciate the time we do have, the gifts we have, the opportunities we are given. 

We don’t know how large or small our hourglass is, yet we sit here day in and day out hashing and rehashing our mistakes or even reliving our glory days but never thinking that perhaps better is ahead if we can be blessed to see the next day. We often would rather the time slip away while we are oblivious to our surroundings than to get up and live for the moments we have. GOD only knows the size of our hourglass and how much sand is left. If we did, would we live differently? Would we continue to dwell on everything going wrong, or would we run towards our goals as if there’s no tomorrow? What if there’s no tomorrow? What if all we have is today? How would we be remembered? Would we be remembered at all? How have we spent our life? Have we shared our gifts with the world, or have we wasted all that sand? 

When I think of my little ones and all the potential they had, it hurts me to think of how much I waste and they never had the chance. I can sit here and feel sorry for myself and them or I can dedicate all my efforts to serving an all wise and powerful GOD and for HIM giving me the chance to love them unconditionally and for them to know that I carried them every second of their lives and I love them every second of mine. 

I see people with so much potential, so much vitality and they waste it all. I know of people who take it upon themselves to determine when their sand should run out. They shatter the glass and all that they could become spills out…wasted. Yeah, I’ve thought about it; ending the sentence prematurely, but you know what I’ve found? I got too much to live for, too many people to prove wrong. I have done everything I was told I couldn’t do. And I’m not done yet.

We only have one hourglass that is flipped over already and all we are given is the sand that the glass contains. Each second that ticks by is that much closer to us running out of sand. Now we can either drown in the sand as it pours all around us or build sandcastles great and glorious. As long as we have breath, we still have hope and time to use our hourglass wisely.