Milestones, Journeys & Life Overall

Ecclesiastes 3:6 A time to gain, and a time to lose;

In life there are many milestones, if we’re fortunate enough to reach them.  My twenty-first birthday was a huge milestone I can recall vividly. My parents gave me a surprise birthday party in our backyard.  It was a beautiful summer day and night.  I can still see my parents smiling and telling stories of my childhood. Laughter, family, friends, and my fiancé (now husband) all were in attendance. If I close my eyes, I can envision it with great exact detail, and can even smell the cherry blossoms in our yard. And feel the warm breeze brush ever so lightly across my cheek.  

Milestones can also be referred to as a reality in which we reach or gain, as a natural means of growth. And it’s also a season of our lives we can look back on. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Within these happy milestones and occasions, thereto some “tears” shall fall. These come under the category of losses along the way. And grief, is usually a very big part of our journey in life. We find comfort during these times, through family and friends. And for the faithful, mainly through God.  (Matthew 5:4)

Losing a parent is significant, and when I lost Dad in an unexpected tragic way, it was devastating and suffocating at once.  Losing Mom some 15 years after Dad’s demise, was still traumatic, but a little less so, only because of the overall circumstance. She was in ill health, so it wasn’t quite the shock as it was with Dad. But the loss and the grief, hit me in the gut, and heart the same way.  However, knowing I’ll see them again one day, always brings joy to my soul. (John 3:36) Ah, Mom, Dad…I miss you both so much…

But that is what life is all about, gains and losses. Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”

Ups and downs, and all the in-betweens. That’s called “life my brothers and sisters.” We will invariably and undoubtedly suffer loss during our time here on earth. This interloper, whom I refer to as “loss,” is an untimely gain most times. Only if we look at it through the lens of Christ’s eyes.

I watched and tended to many patients in my nursing home during my career. Usually, I found that the ones who were the “happiest,” or most content, were those who had faith. They were the ones who embraced the progression of life with grace, and acceptance. But most importantly, these individuals viewed it as a gift from God. They recognized what they had lived through, what they had accomplished, and what they had learned along the way. Each trial or tribulation is in fact, a gift from God. He is always with us. He’s there through it all. (Psalm 23)

The peaceful faces I gazed at while holding their hands, were mainly faith-driven individuals. Whereas those who didn’t have any peace were those poor souls, that were filled with an empty barren black hole of misery. They never knew God and therefore, had no semblance of peace. They had no milestones to speak of!  Of course, they did, but made no mention of them. It represented an empty life, not the kind of life God wants for His children. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Milestones are milestones. Big or small. Significant or insignificant, it’s all in the eye of the individual, and the prevailing circumstances I suppose.  But the thing to come away with from all of your milestones, is “what you make of each one.”

What does it mean at that moment? Do you see it as a gift in life? Or just another day?

The thing is, life is truly fleeting (Ecclesiastes 1:2, Hebrews 13:14).

So, while here on this earth, make each second count as if it is indeed another “milestone” in your life. When you take the time to think about it, that’s exactly what it is, isn’t it?

“Father, thank You for all of my milestones in my life thus far, and for all the seconds and moments in each day, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”