your dash
What is your dash? It is the line or dash between your birth date and your death date. You have probably heard or read this before but here it is in case you haven’t.
I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning...to the end. He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little dash is worth. For it matters not, how much we own, the cars... the house...the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash. So, think about this long and hard; are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged. To be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before. If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile...remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read, with your life’s actions to rehash...would you be proud of the things they say about how you lived your dash?
That is so powerful. I was looking up some numbers the other days about Mark’s life. I don’t know why but I was curious about how many days he lived his dash. It goes like this:
19,816 days of his life
12,262 days of our marriage
6,900 days is roughly how long we lived apart before we met and spent 33 years together
13, 601 days he was a Christian, loved the Lord and always put Him first
922 days of his sickness
11,808 days he had with Meagan
9,709 days he had with Marissa
8,909 days he had with Malory
1,500+ days he had with our grandson Ethan
297 days he had with our granddaughter Allie
4 days he had with our grandson Daniel
1,618 days as of today I have been without him and today would have been our 38th wedding anniversary
As I was typing these numbers it got harder to type towards the end. The dash should be so much bigger for our daughters and especially our grandkids, but it is not. So, I tell my grandkids about the dash of his life and how well he lived it. And he lived it well. I wish the dash was bigger for our life together, but I will be ok that it isn’t.
How are you living your dash? When all is said and done and your life here on earth is over, will people say of you that you lived your dash well? Were you loving, kind, patient, caring, generous, a man or woman of integrity, fair, trustworthy, dependable, accepting, positive, forgiving, joyous, grateful, gracious, encouraging? Are you making a difference for the Kingdom? The list is endless of how you should be living your dash, so are you? I know I am always trying to live my dash well, and I think most days I do. But as I know myself, I don’t always live it well and I make lots of mistakes. So, when I do make those mistakes, I am unkind or not loving, I do what I need to do. I correct it and start again.
Live your dash this way! With the fruit of the Spirit as your guide! Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
How are you living your dash? Start today living it well! It is not too late to start but the important thing is to start!
