The Countdown

Kids love birthdays.

I watch my grandkids count the days.
Circling dates.
Measuring life by what’s coming next.

For a long time, that’s how life feels.
Like it’s adding up.

But eventually, the math changes.

Life isn’t just a count up.
It’s a countdown.

Every one of us has a date ahead of us when this life will end.
That isn’t morbid.
It’s human.

I’ll be honest.
I forget that more than I should.

I live like time just keeps showing up.
Like there’s always more.

The future I have planned for, worked for, and dreamed of feels solid now, but everything that isn’t eternal will one day vanish in an instant.

Careers end.
Titles fade.
Accounts reset.
Applause stops.

Not because those things are wrong.
But because they were never meant to last.

Scripture doesn’t soften the truth.

“What is your life?
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
James 4:14

The countdown isn’t meant to frighten us.
It’s meant to focus us.

When time feels endless, we delay what matters.
When we remember the end, priorities sharpen.

Love becomes urgent.
Forgiveness becomes practical.
Faith becomes lived.

I don’t want less ambition.
I want better aim.

I’m learning, day by day, to be more aware.
To stop living like this life is the main act.

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