Carpe Eternity!

Let’s stop saying ‘Carpe Diem’ and start saying ‘Carpe aeternum (eternity).’

“It is sad how many people constantly live in the schizophrenic craziness of eternity amnesia. We were created to live in a forever relationship with a forever God forever. We were designed to live based on a long view of life. We were made to live with one eye on now and one eye on eternity. You and I simply cannot live as we were put together to live without forever. But so many people try. They put all their hopes and dreams in the right here, right now situations, locations, possessions, positions, and people of their daily lives. They load moment after moment with the undeliverable expectations. They ask people to be what people this side of eternity will never be. They demand that a seriously broken world deliver what it could never deliver even if it were not broken. They fail to recognize that at the bottom of all of this drivenness and insanity is an expectation that now can be the paradise it will never be.

It’s wonderful for you to have a good marriage, but it will never be a paradise. It’s great to have a good relationship with your children, but they will never deliver paradise to you. That beautiful house that began decaying from the moment it was built will not be your paradise. Those still flawed people around you will not offer you paradise-like relationships. In forgetting who you are, forgetting how you were designed to live, forgetting who God is, and forgetting what is to come, you make yourself and those around you crazy.

Your eternity amnesia makes you unrealistically expectant, vulnerable to temptation, all too driven, dependent on people and things that will only disappoint you, and sadly susceptible to doubting the goodness of God. Recognizing the eternity that is to come allows you to be realistic without being hopeless, and hopeful when things around you don’t encourage much hope.

The evidence is clear—There just has to be more to life than this. This broken, sin-scarred mess can’t be all there is. And scripture is clear—This is not paradise, and it won’t be. Rather, this moment is a time of preparation for the paradise that is to come, where everything that sin has broken will be fully restored to what God originally intended it to be.

Is there schizophrenia in your living? Do you make your hunger for paradise a form of insanity by coupling it with forgetfulness about what is to come? Do you load paradise-like expectations into fallen-world moments? Does your eternity amnesia tempt you to question the goodness of God? Pray for grace to remember God and the unending end he has written into the story of all who put their trust in him. Long-view living s wise living. Long-view living is Godward living. Long-view living is hopeful living. Long-vie living will make you thankful for grace. “ (Excerpt from “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp)

God, give us the wisdom to see past this moment and past this life. Give us the foresight to stop living for today and start living for eternity. To YOU be the Glory!

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:18

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” -Ephesians 1:17-21

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” -1 John 5:13

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:21

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3:14

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Stephanie Parker has three main loves: God, her husband, Brett and her kids!  When Stephanie created the Zipadee-Zip in an effort to solve her daughter, Charlotte's, sleep issues, she never imagined that it would become a business.  She is incredibly grateful to God for how Sleepingbaby.com has grown and how it has enabled other families to get the restful sleep they need.   Stephanie's husband, Brett Parker assumed the role of CEO which has allowed Stephanie to focus on what she loves which is the creative side of the company, like product and print development.  After the Zipadee-Zip was featured on Shark Tank, Stephanie went on to create the book Shepherd's Treasure. In her free time, Stephanie loves to spend time with her family and friends.  Her hobbies include acting, singing, painting, learning and speaking foreign languages and going on adventures with her family!  You will find her all summer waterskiing, fishing and laughing with her family on the weekends.