The Best is Yet to Come

When I eat Lucky Charms, I like to save as many marshmallows as possible until the very end. You see, they're my favorite part of the cereal...so I want to eat them last.

When I eat a burger, I eat allllllll the way around the edges, saving the middle for the end. You see, the middle is my favorite part of the burger...so I want to eat it last.

I do the same thing with sandwiches (subs, included), quesadillas, hot dogs (yes, I love hot dogs), pizza, cake, cookies and any other food that you can possibly save the middle for last. I never eat my dessert first. Sometimes, when I have a really hard time choosing which food I like most, I have to take alternating bites of each food as I try to figure out which one should win the award of, 'Last Bite'. Red and pink Starbursts get eaten last, as do the red Skittles.

If you haven't picked up on the trend yet, I like to save the best for last.

While I could talk about food all day long, that's not exactly what this post is about. I merely think that the way I eat food is an accurate representation of how I want my life to be. I want the best things to happen last...which mostly means I want life to keep getting better and better.

I can't imagine existing in a world where I think that my 'best years are behind me'. I can't imagine finding contentment in believing that things won't ever be better than what I've already experienced. It seems absurd to me.

Don't get me wrong... better doesn't necessarily mean easier. While I can sometimes pine after the days when I never had to care about gas prices, or think twice about what dinner was going to be... there's something better about being older, having independence, and figuring out my way through life. There's something better about learning the good through the pain, through taking risks, through experiencing the depth that often accompanies relationships with others. There's something better about knowing how to ride a bike, even though it might have taken a few falls and bloody noses to get there.

There's something beautiful about learning...and seeing how The Better comes into fruition, even if it's not necessarily painless or easy.

I think it's beautiful because there's always something to hope for, always something to look forward to, always a reminder that this isn't it. And, beyond life here on earth... there's the abundantly better that awaits us in eternity.

It's exciting to me.
I hope it is to you, too.

The best is yet to come. Frank Sinatra was onto something... (even if the song is primarily about a romantic relationship).

Even when it's hard, even when it seems like the best years of your life are in the past, even as the gray hairs emerge, the wrinkles begin to form, and the aches and pains come from the very activities that used to be a breeze.... there's still much to hope for.

Seize the fullness of your present lives, knowing that each day has potential to better than yesterday was.

May our lives keep getting better and better (even if they sometimes feel harder), as we are molded, refined, shaped, and learning the fullness of what it means to be more like Jesus.

Saving the best for last...until the day when the best becomes all we know.

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