Looking for the Dash

The situation reminded me of a story I’ve heard several times over the years.

In my case, the dash was to separate two numbers on the outside of a condo. The exterior had recently been painted and now the identifying numbers outside of our door were missing.

We chose some brightly coloured ceramic tiles with the numbers but finding a dash was another matter.

One could have been painted on the wall but that’s not what we wanted. The dash had to have more character than a painted line.

Since our condo is on the waterfront, we decided a shell could be used. The hunt was on for the perfect shell. This needed to be unique enough to also reflect who we are.

The story I was reminded of was about a tombstone. It indicated the date of birth and the date of death. Between these dates was a dash. This represented the years of life. The point of the story was to make the most of the dash. Searching for a dash now, reminded me of the importance of living a meaningful life.

When I was a girl in school, the races we ran on sports day were called dashes. I was good at the shorter ones, like the 50 yard dash, but didn’t have the endurance for the longer runs.

I now realize that the dash representing my life is one of endurance. God has given me a unique life and trusts me to run it to the best of my ability. With his guidance I will use it to reflect his light and love to those I come in contact with.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 NLT)