I was going through my closet the other day, removing my winter clothes and putting in summer clothes from last year….and the year before and the year before that. And there it was, my favorite casual top that I absolutely love to wear! It’s so versatile and it makes me look thinner too!

But what is this? What are these white spots on the shoulder and sleeve? And here are more spots on the lapel and even down on the front! How could I have missed these before putting it away for the winter? I sure hope the cleaners can get them out.

My mind began to travel back to a year ago and suddenly it dawned on me that these are definitely the marks of a baby and the ‘decorations’ they can put on Nana’s clothes. Last year I had these marks on many of my clothes because our little grandson, Robbie, was still on the bottle and still spitting up. Today he is eating everything you put on his plate. He’s walking, running and climbing, even up the ladder on the swing set we bought. He’s talking now too and can say most of Acts 2:38. Where did the year go?

How quickly things change and how quickly we forget. I barely remember this past year as the dates on the calendar just kept getting marked off with a busy schedule and many distractions. What a wake-up call when we are reminded that it was just a year ago that this happened or that happened.

It’s true. We are strange creatures, always planning what we are going to do when. When I grow up. When I get married. When the kids get grown. When I get time. Basically we just live looking forward all the time.

Someone has said, “In the first part of our life we spend a lot of time planning. And in the last part of our life, we spend a lot of time lamenting that we never got around to doing the things we planned to do.” While we are living life, life quickly passes us by. Minutes turn into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, and weeks into years -never to be relived or recalled.

What a shock to be reminded by something so simple as spots on a favorite summer outfit that I must not let this year pass without consciously paying more attention to life, and to what really matters in the life of a little boy named Robbie. Maybe I should just leave those spots and wear them to remind me of what is really most important and how quickly time flies by.

Warning:  Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.  ~Author Unknown