Where Have You Been All Your Life?

Grandpa Dave and Ellie

A mirror doesn’t judge. It merely reflects. As we get older, the mirror can show us those dreaded wrinkles that we try so hard to avoid. The mirror doesn’t know how we spend our time, but our wrinkles can usually show whether our faces spend more time smiling or frowning.

That’s all on the outside. With the help of the mirror we do our best to make our appearance as appealing as possible. But what about how we look on the inside? Is there a type of mirror that can reflect back to us how we feel, what we believe, what we consider important, and what we spend most of our time caring about?

“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” (Proverbs 27:19).

While we can do our best to disguise our looks, our life will always reflect what’s in our hearts. As we get older, the reflection of the heart becomes even more obvious. Our legacy will be the evidence of how we spent our time and what things we considered valuable.

As the pressures of life inch us forward day by day, we don’t always appreciate how our daily choices are building the wrinkles on our insides. Melanie’s dad just passed away this week after 96 years of living a wonderful life. As he spent his last few years in our home, I saw how those internal wrinkles really do reflect the heart of a person.

Grandpa Dave had severe dementia, but his days were always filled with wonder and delight at things I took for granted. He would marvel at the beauty of the outdoors and the blessing of sunshine. He described almost every meal we cooked as the best food he’d ever tasted. Little children would make him tear up with joy. And I can’t remember him ever being angry.

But the thing that impressed me most about Grandpa Dave was when we would ask him to pray at dinner. No matter where his mind was, he would deliver the most beautiful and touching prayer. We could tell that he spent a lot of time over the years talking to the Lord, and praying God’s blessing for the people he knew.

It became obvious that the things you value most, and the things you spend the most time doing, eventually define you. It’s unavoidable. Dave couldn’t disguise what was in his heart. He was just genuinely beautiful on the inside.

This reminded me of what was written about Moses. Of all the amazing things that defined his life, it’s the fact that he had to wear a veil over his face that I think best reflects how and where he spent his time. After meeting with the Lord, the people around him “saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.” (Exodus 34:34-35).

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Where have you been all my life?” But the better question is, “Where have you been all your life?” The older we get, the more obvious is the answer.

Please ‘like’ and ‘share’ this post as you find it helpful and inspiring. Thank you.

-Ken Buchanan