Catchy quotes have always gotten my attention. I remember way back to Senior year of high school when you got to include a quote next to your Senior Photo for the yearbook. It took me weeks to pick mine because I had so many favorite ones. I heard one just the other day at the health club I belong to. It was during a group exercise class and the teacher said this,
"You cannot control the length of your days, but you can control its width and depth."
It grabbed my attention. I'm not sure why it stuck out to me so much as I was trying to catch my breath in her class, perhaps because it is a new year and I am once again looking to live a healthier lifestyle. I know it resonated with me because I am confident of the One who is control of the length of my days. I know that God is the one who will determine how many days I get to live this life he has blessed me with. I also know that he has given me some ownership over how I manage those days. The width and depth part. We have many options about how we will live our lives, how we spend our days, what we do with the hours we have in each of those days. I think another reason it stood out to me is because it reminded me of a verse from the Bible.
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
Realizing how short life really is and how quickly the days pass, we are wise to be intentional how we spend them. I wrote about this verse in my book, Snapshots and Stories Increasing Awareness of God's Faithfulness Through the Practice of Journaling in Chapter 6. And this morning a friend who is reading the book sent me a text to tell me that particular verse is her "life verse". I am learning more and more about being intentional with what foods I put into my body, how I start my day by reading God's word, choosing to be grateful, and enjoying the little blessings. A few verses later in the same Psalm are these amazing words,
"Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:14
It matters how we start our days, what we remind ourselves of, where we fix our eyes, what we pay attention to. My Heavenly Father loves me with a perfect, sustaining and steadfast love. There is nothing I can do to make him love me more and there is nothing I can do that will make him love me less. He loves me. And, He loves you. And I can trust him completely with the length of my days, and I thank him for giving me choices about the width and depth.