A Vapor

James 4:14b (NIV) says "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

In other versions "a mist" is called a vapor. To me vapor seems even more fragile and fleeting than mist. And I am in a season of life where I am recognizing the full extent of just how quickly life is passing.

Tomorrow we will celebrate a birthday in our home. With this birthday comes the very real reminder that we are now just one year away from being the parents of a teenager. Wasn't it just yesterday that I became a mom for the first time?

And then as this school year wraps up within the next month, we are experiencing another "last" in our home. At the end of the month, we will have our fourth Kindergartner and with that ends our need for daycare or preschool.

Life is short. We most often see it in very poignant moments when a life is cut short or tragedy strikes. But I am noticing it in the everyday moments as well.

We don't know how long our journey will be but in the scheme of eternity our life is short. So I am being reminded that I need to cherish my children and my time with them, but also be sure that they are secure in the love of God. My love for them, though enormous, is like vapor compared to God's. 

This vapor, this life that is fleeting; what I am doing with it that has eternal significance?