What tomorrow brings (or even today)

I love all the little app notifications I receive throughout the day.  They start in the morning with a quick note saying "If you leave now, you will arrive at work in 27 minutes".  Later in the day I might get one from another source that says "rain will begin falling at 1:16 p.m."  I keep waiting for a not so pleasant notification like the guy in the commercial "your heart attack will happen in one hour". YIKES!!

I am Spelling EXPERT!!

And when we don't have apps to tell us what is happening, there are a plethora of quiz opportunities available.  Have you noticed that lately?  They started out innocent enough - the spelling quiz, check your grammar.  I am not going to lie, I have taken EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM and if I don't score 100%, I want a do-over.  But how did we go from educationally sound endeavors to "What rose matches your personality?"  Are you kidding me?  How about "Who cares what rose matches your personality?"  And then we have the totally random "What mystical being are you"?  I don't need a quiz to tell me that.  I have people around me that give me an idea ALL THE TIME. Certainly, I am not alone.

Yikes, I need to do the Valentine Quiz!

My favorite one of late is the "what kind of person are you".  Just by your name and gender this little app creates a darling little story sharing significant insights into who we are.  I took the test three times and got three different stories.  Does that mean I have a split personality??

But what if the app notifications we received were true?  (I don't necessarily mean the examples I used but if you really want to know what rose matches your personality, text me...I will forward the quiz).  But, what if we knew exactly what could happen, what would happen, and even when that moment would be?  TERRIFYING, right?

Equally terrifying is how life sneaks up on us.  Everything seems to be fine.  The sun is shining, we have our health. The kids are fine and our marriage is strong.  Until it's not.  In that one moment in time, whether it is when we pick up the phone to receive bad news or answer the door and face the bearers of life changing news, we are no longer who we were....just one minute before.  We are left shell shocked, heart broken, unable to focus on today, let alone tomorrow.

Last week, a member of a family I grew up with, a family I love, opened the door to such news.

I once received an email from a guy I worked with.  He was originally from Uganda.  When he closed out his email he wrote. "By God's Grace, I will see you again."  This was just a "normal" work email.  When I met him, I told him I was particularly moved by his closing.  He shared with me that when he was young, he had said "see you later" without much thought.  His mother quickly corrected him, telling him, only God can make that call.  She admonished him; "Who are you to presume you have the power to tell anyone you will see them again".

I hope you already know!

I shared his explanation with several people and soon found I could not say "see you later" without adding "By God's Grace".  To those in "the know" we would just say BGG.  If someone wasn't aware of my need to say this, I would say it under my breath (yes, like the kid on The Middle).

I don't know everything and after reflection, it is probably for the best.  In the big picture of things, our time on this planet is short, and goes by so quickly.  If we knew what was coming, there is no way we could enjoy what tomorrow brings....or even today.

 Until next time,
#BGG

your pal,
Kari