Okay, so today is the beginning of the end of the world, according to a Christian numerologist. As I went to bed last night, I was thinking, "What if the world really did 'end' tomorrow? How would we choose to spend our last day?"
As I laid in bed by myself last night watching Gilmore Girls for the 832nd time while my husband and kids watched a show together in the other room, I thought about how we all had eaten dinner together earlier (homemade BBQ chicken pizza) and how hubby and I had our "mommy and daddy" time and how we were all just chillin' now with each other, hanging out in our normal low-key way, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream.
And I thought, "This is exactly how I would want to spend my last day. If the world ended tomorrow or if the rapture really happened and Jesus came back and took my family out of here, I would be happy to end my time on earth like this."
Actually, I can think of a few other things I'd like to do to really make my last day perfect. And so if I could choose what to do for my last day, it would look like this ...
I'd wake up early and have a cup of coffee, watching the sun rise and reading my Bible and praying. Then I'd go outside and do a little gardening, listening to The City Harmonic on my MP3 player while my boys woke up. Of course, I would have had my husband run out to get fancy doughnuts for breakfast - and each kid could have two of them (they're big doughnuts).
And then we would all just chill for a little while. The boys could play video games while my husband and I had our "mommy and daddy" time.
And I would make sure the kids knew the #1 rule for the day - "NO FIGHTING ALLOWED ON THE DAY BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS!"
Then around lunch time, we'd all go for a walk and a picnic in some nature area, just lingering by a pond, watching frogs and dragonflies, looking at the leaves turning colors. And we'd also go to Starbucks and get a café mocha or frappuccino. Heck, I'd let them all have their own, even the 8-year-old.
By this point, it would be early afternoon and we'd all go to some big park and the kids could play on the playground or play ball with my husband (who's a big kid himself - I love it!) while I read a little (right now it's a U2 biography) and watched them play.
Then we'd go out for dinner to some steak joint. And we'd have ice cream - but not too much, just a scoop so we didn't end up sick to our stomachs. (And everywhere we went, I would leave small wooden crosses with a note attached that has John 3:16 printed on it. You never know who might need it!)
And on the way home, we'd listen to some loud, fun music like "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "Safety Dance" and "I'll Stop The World And Melt With You" and "Living on a Prayer" and, of course, "It's The End Of The World As We Know It." And we'd all sing along at the top of our lungs. (And, yes, I would annoy them with some of my music, too, the stuff they hate just because I like it - "Son of a Preacher Man," "Sloop John B," "Forever in Blue Jeans," "Dancing in the Moonlight," "You're so Vain," "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)," etc.)
And when we got home, I'd let them hang out a little, building Legos or going hunting for Pokémon or Googling Weird Al videos, while I watched an episode or two of Gilmore Girls by myself.
And then I'd make popcorn and I'd pull out all the frozen blueberries and raspberries that we saved from the garden. And we'd all settle in on the couch eating popcorn and berries while watching a marathon of fun shows and movies all night long - maybe Guardians of the Galaxy, Sky High, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, A Christmas Story and the DVDs I have of The Middle and The Goldbergs.
And we'd be like that until the end came! And I would be happy!
(And I'll admit that I'd probably go out and throw rocks at the neighbor's moldy garage which is right next to my garden - the garage that discouraged me for years because it was near impossible to enjoy the garden with the smell of mold smothering me and yet no one would clean it up no matter how many times I pleaded.)
A day like that would be nice, too. But I'm still pretty content with the one we had.
(You know what else I thought about as I reflected on "What if the rapture really did happen?"
I imagined people coming in our house, searching for signs of life ... and they would be trying to find the clothes we were wearing when we disappeared, but they wouldn't be able to find them amid the piles of clothes and papers and toys all over the place ... and I thought, "Wow! I really need to clean this place up because that would be embarrassing!" It's kinda pathetically-amusing that one of my first thoughts after "What if the rapture happens" is "I gotta clean." And for the record, I didn't. So if the rapture does happen today, they'll just have to deal with the mess. I'm sure I'll be too busy to care about it where I'm going anyway.)
And so that's what I'm asking you all today ... If you knew that the end of the world was going to happen the next day, how would you spend your last day here (assuming all your 'unfinished business' is done)? Or maybe assuming it's not and that you need to finish it?
How would you like to spend your last day?
