Moments Weren't Meant to Last

The definition of "moment" is "a very brief period of time."
That's not exactly a very long time. They say life is full of moments, and they are right.
And at the same time they are 100% wrong. Is life full of moments? You betcha. That is...
in a literal way, life has lots of very brief periods of time. But life is not full of the moments
that we try so dearly to hold on to.

You know what I'm talking about. That moment you watch the girl you could spend forever with as she picks flowers. The moment you are at the very top of the Mount Everest of your faith. That moment you are laughing so hard with your friend you can't breathe. Those moments.
Those very brief periods of time. Life is not full of those. They are rare. Valuable. Precious.

Two days ago I stood in the airport saying goodbye to my dad, mom, and sister. We prayed. I hugged my dad and then mom. And then I looked at my 16 year old sister who was trying to smile away the tears streaming down her cheek.

Moment.

That was a moment. The rare kind. The precious kind. Maybe not the kind you like or expect. But the kind that mean the most. My Rachel and I are so close. Best friends. We were both pretty busy this summer, but we made the most of the time together. We had a lot of great times. Times we laughed our heads off and couldn't even remember why. But those weren't moments. We've been doing that for 16 years.

But as I stood in that airport and tried to be the tough older brother holding back the tears, a moment happened. All of summer. All of our lives were wrapped into that one moment. I was leaving for college in California, 1,966 miles away, and a guy that never cries was fighting like everything to hold back a flood of tears.

So what's the point?

Hold on to those moments? No. In fact, don't. Relish every second of the moment, but don't try to hold on. Because a moment is brief. Very brief. If you try to hold on you will be disappointed. But thank God for every second of that moment. Because brief as they may be...they will happen. And that moment is a glimpse into eternity.

If Today Was Your Last Day

Greetings World.

So, straight to it. Question of the ages. What would you do if today was your last day? I suppose you could be realistic and say "well we will never know, will we?" But who cares about realists anyway? So what would it be? Say your apologies to everyone you've wronged? Tell that guy or girl next door you are crazy for him or her? Go witness to the world? Jump out of an airplane? Get married? What? If this was your last 24 hours. 1440 minutes. 86,400 seconds. That's it. That's all you have left. What are you going to do? 

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I think about death every once in a while. No. Not because I'm suicidal. Just because it's gonna happen and i might as well get used to that. And I got to thinking. Okay James. There is no tomorrow. You just woke up. You got today left. That's it. What are you gonna do? My first thoughts were probably typical of most people. 

Do something crazy! Something I would never be brave enough to otherwise. Jump off Niagara, try to run into the White House...something like that. :) Or, I could get spiritual and say I would witness to everyone I saw. After all, that's not a bad idea. But then I thought this. What do I enjoy most about life right now? 

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Answer? The little things. Sitting down talking to my sister Rachel about the girl I like. Playing tennis in the pouring rain with my best friend Sam. Playing catch with my brother Jonathan. Talking to my dad about the Bible. Road-tripping with my sister (in-law's sister) Tara to Nebraska to visit my brother Jeremiah and his wife Liz. Planning out my future with my mom. Sleeping in. Going for a walk. Having my devotions. Playing fetch with my mentally handicapped dog. Writing a story. Listening to music. 

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So thought. Why would I have my last day be any different? No. I wouldn't call up friends from the past asking forgiveness for things of the past. I wouldn't go on a witnessing spree. I wouldn't really do anything out of the ordinary. I'd do those little things that so often go unnoticed, over-looked and under-rated. I'd sleep in, go play catch, talk about girls, play fetch, have deep conversations, go for a walk, and plan my future that wasn't going to happen. 

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So what would I do if today was my last day? I would simply pretend I had 1 billion days left. What would you do?