Life is such a great teacher. Just this morning, during a simple conversation through which a few people reveled and celebrated the life of a babe who broke into this world under duress, one of those life lessons occurred to me.

The little one will enjoy her first birthday soon. We’ve watched slack-jawed as she and the Lord chip away at markers everyone feared might lie beyond reach. In a text, one person then said, “Is she already a year old…goodness where does the time go?” What a great question.

In a flash, I knew my answer…

I see the passage of time in my wrinkles. I peer intently into the mirror…

“Yup, that one and that one, uh-huh, those are year three. “

“Whew, that one, good night Irene, when did that show up? Oh right, that was year sixteen…please, Lord, don’t remind me about that one.”

“And that little one right next to the big one between my eyes? Yeah, I remember…I smiled so long the night she said yes to my proposal, it just decided to hang around forever.”

“And that one…and that one…and that one…and “Criminently, Trigger” that little batch next to my eyes, oh please…”

“And, hey wait a minute, that one’s new. Oh right, it popped up last week. I think I’ll call it my virus wrinkle.”

The time flows ever forward. It comes. It goes. And the lessons are wrinkles sketched in time. Warnings. Celebrations. Hopes. Dreams. Prayers. Relationships. The time wrinkles of life…for better or worse, in sickness or health…reminders of this: have we redeemed the time, have we made the most of every opportunity, have we seized each day, have we given life, or…well, I’ll leave the contrast up to you.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12