Freckle Check

By Hally Franz –

Ahh, the sun! I love it! While some folks love their MTV, I am in dire straits without my vitamin D. Although I savor the sun’s heat and light, I finally learned that my skin does not. After at least a dozen baby oil-induced burns as a teen and young adult, I gave up on tanning. I have been bathed with vinegar-soaked cotton balls and gummed up with aloe direct from the leaves. One sunburn sent me to the emergency room, earning me a tetanus shot. My last notable burn occurred on day one of my honeymoon cruise, when, within two hours, I burned my entire front side sunbathing on the ship’s breezy deck. Not cool!

When the sun is high in the sky, and my aging freckles brighten and sometimes meld into one, I am reminded that it’s time to see the dermatologist. I go annually just to check on all the skin damage I’m left with after my misspent youth. It’s time to make that appointment.

I feel like I am always making appointments. In the spring and fall, I make appointments to have the carpets cleaned and the bugs exterminated. I make eight appointments each year for teeth cleanings. Then, I make more for my kids’ orthodontic treatments. Women my age are supposed to have a couple of exams each year. I schedule both of these for the same day. It’s like a day at the spa, only in reverse. Haircuts, lessons, meetings and fun—it all has to be scheduled.

This is a situation we all face today. We are lost without our planners and BlackBerry Smartphones. My husband has a highly-technical scheduling instrument. He calls it his “pocket brain.” It is a paper-version calendar that he typically acquires just before a new year begins, sometimes as a giveaway at a local business. Most of us have some system for scheduling and organizing our lives.

While I am busy making and keeping appointments, God has booked me for the most precious one I’ll ever experience. When I became a believer in Christ Jesus, was baptized, repented and my sins forgiven, He arranged for our meeting at some future date. I can talk to Him anytime now, but my face-to-face meeting with God is reserved and confirmed. Though I don’t know when that will be, He does. He’s marked the date, and that’s one I don’t have to worry about.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Thank You for the assurance of salvation and eternal life that Your word provides. While our earthly days are congested with appointments and obligations, we are guaranteed a glorious meeting with You in heaven.

“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20 NKJV).