Longing For God 

   “As a deer longs for running streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, the living God.  When shall I come to behold the face of God?” (Psalm 42: 1 – 3) 

   As I’ve grown older I’ve come to yearn for a closer relationship with my God.  I suppose my earlier years were more occupied with family, children, and career.  Sadly, those things intruded upon the most important of all desires; the desire to know and follow my God more fully.

   I don’t regret dedicating time to the needs of this world and raising a family.  After all, that too can be an offering to God, an offering of love and hope for the future.  My prayer has always been and remains that my children will seek God in their lives and my hope is that I, by the grace of God, may be an example of faith that they can look up to.

   Now, as I grow older and nearer the end of my time on this earth becoming closer to God in all ways takes on a new importance.  No one knows when they will be called home, so it is always important to seek the Lord, but as we age I think we better understand that.

   I love life and will do my best to enjoy all the many blessings God has bestowed upon me.  I will strive to follow His will in all things, hoping that my efforts to please Him will please Him.  Life is a beautiful gift and I thank Him for the years I have had and the years I hope to still have.  And when the time comes, and He calls me home, I will rejoice in beholding the face of my God.