As I was walking out of the grocery store tonight with one kid in tow, I could hear the announcer calling plays at the high school football game across the street. Driving home, I caught a glimpse of those stadium lights, and it took me back to fifteen years ago. Fifteen! Wow!

Back then, Friday nights were the nights I lived for. It meant getting out of the house and spending time with friends, without any parental supervision. Not much of the football game was watched (unless my crush was on the field). Instead, my friends and I walked around, chatting about the latest boy drama or something going on with field hockey.

In my teenage mind, I couldn’t even fathom what the next stage of life was going to look like or the one after that. And here I am, pushing 30, and I know I won’t be able to fully understand the next phase until it’s here.

No matter what stage of life I’m in, I find that my thoughts always get stuck there. The cares of that moment are the only things that matter, and it feels like nothing is ever going to change. But then you blink, and fifteen years has passed.

Now with a husband and two kids, it seems funny that I cried tears many nights, afraid I would never find someone to date. It seems silly that I lost sleep over worrying about an upcoming test.

The worries I have today will seem silly fifteen years from now. Okay, they’ll probably seem silly next month.

But it’s a reality check. The things of this life have no value. The worries we face today are nothing to fret about when we have our eyes set on eternity. We should not be focused on the things of this earth, because they will all pass away.

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Where are your thoughts today? Are they like mine and need to be refocused?