Midweek reminder: We don't always experience things we would prefer

I shared this passage with a co-worker who lost his sister in a car accident a couple of weeks ago. When I stumbled across it on a blog I read with some frequency, I was struck by the relevancy, and how one horrible split second can change everything.

"I long for heaven. There the good that I'll experience is not temporary or fleeting or fading or tainted by trials. Here on earth, any good is temporary. Car wrecks taint life. Things are taken away from us. We don't always experience things we would prefer. My emotional investment and the focus of my faith can't be the things of this life, but my hope has to be in that imperishable inheritance that's kept in heaven for me. So many dreams and things and relationships throw me off and distract my longing for heaven. I need to hold out for what's best; I need to hold out for heaven."

I believe in living your best life, right here, right now. I also believe that--thankfully--this life isn't the only life possible. Balancing the two perspectives takes effort, for sure. But, it's an effort that brings peace and solace during any ordinary day, and is especially worthwhile on those days when the world stops in a crisis.