Several years ago, I received a telephone call from my grandfather, Russell, asking me to meet him at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne where he would hear the results of his heart tests. I finished my appointment and met him at the heart center. We both waited patiently until the doctor entered the examination room.
“Well Russell, you have two problems,” the doctor said.
“Only two?” Russell replied, referring optimistically as if he were to have only two flaws.
The first problem was congestive heart failure. The second was its affect on his kidneys. That was the beginning of the end.
Over the course of the next few months, we relived many years of stories. I received more joy from those conversations listening to Russell share his life and his legacy than anything else we discussed. Time after time, I observed how he had faced tragedies and triumphs, along with many moments where he had needed restoration. We both commented frequently how quickly time passes.
Jesus’ half-brother James penned a picture of the brevity of life, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
When I think about that picture, I remember exhaling my moist breath on the cold glass of my elementary school bus window, then writing my name in it. God exhales our life into the clay of the ground as the Designer and continues to inhale and exhale through us as the Restorer. We are God’s mist. As we walk, He is writing His name in our hearts.
Today, take time to recognize God’s identity being writing on the mist of your heart.
Episode 74: Auction Stories with Dean & Stuart Kruse from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.