Yesterday

My grandson, Tobin, turned six last week. Surely, it was just yesterday when he was a newborn and his sisters were mere wishes.

And wasn't it just the day before that, when Levi was an inquisitive four-year-old, sitting on his stool at the kitchen table, head tilted to one side as he stated decisively, "I didn't know that." And then, just before Levi joined our family, there was little Victoria, almost five, pointing to the top of the refrigerator where we kept the cookies, questioning, "Some-ping up dere?"

It must have been yesterday, or not too long before, when Erin and Meagan were mere babes, nursing at my breast, then snuggling in, to sleep on my lap. Falling asleep was never a problem for Meagan, but even Miss "Who needs sleep?" Erin slept well when she was brand new. 

It seems like just yesterday when Mom and little Danny and I, when I was six, sat at the kitchen table together, playing a game of Old Maid, and anticipating our new baby's arrival. My little sister, Laura Beth, was born a little later than expected, but she was worth the wait.

But with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything about me. Psalm 139:16 CEV

Time seems to pass so slowly, but then we look back and realize that the years have really flown by. When I look in the mirror, I see a different, older version of myself. I catch glimpses of my aunts, Marilyn, and Marj, and Ellen. Sometimes, I even look like my mother--I didn't look like her when I was younger, or did I?

When I was a 6th grader at Central School in Fairbury, I remember sitting on the gym floor with my classmates, listening to the Junior High band concert, when Mr. Beetley introduced a song that he said was different from other songs.  It was a popular Beatles song that he thought would last for decades. He was right. Now, fifty years later, I can still hear "Yesterday" in the elevator or on the radio:

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.

Now it looks as though they're here to stay.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be.

There's a shadow hanging over me.

Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she had to go?

I don't know, she wouldn't say.

I said something wrong.

Now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.

Now I need a place to hide away.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Sometimes, we can't help but feel a bit nostalgic when we look back at our past lives. Whether the times were good or bad, we remember the significant events in our lives, and it may seem as if they happened only yesterday. We may long for those happy, eventful days when we were younger, forgetting that there may be many fruitful days ahead. 

Our time on earth is brief; the number of our days is already decided by (God). Job 14:5 CEV 

I read an article last week, or maybe it was only yesterday, with charts indicating that the average 65-year-old woman, barring catastrophic accident or illness, can now expect to live twenty years or more, and the average 85-year-old woman can expect to live well into her ninety's. Just think of everything that could happen in that time! Perhaps, instead of looking longingly at the past, we should ask God to show us how we can live satisfying, productive, God-pleasing lives in the years that are left for us here on Earth.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Psalm 90:12 NIV

I don't know about you, but I don't plan to sit around for the next two or three decades, just waiting to die. I may not look as young as I once did, but inside, I'm young and raring to go. Yesterday was good, but tomorrow may be even better.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow;

You're only a day away!