Don't Let The Moments Pass You By

 As many of you will notice, I haven't posted many of my own thoughts here recently. The quotes I have put up have honestly reflected much of how I've been feeling as of late. At times, others' words must become your own when your own words fail you. 

 It's hard to articulate the jumble of emotions I've been dealing with for awhile now... How do you reconcile such varying feelings as joy and sorrow intermingle through this life? Over the last several months, I've dealt with friends battling cancer, someone I knew committing suicide, news of a childhood friend's untimely death due to "poor choices," a friend's death from cancer, friends going off the rails due to bad choices, a relative I've never known entering my life, friends moving, a job change...the list goes on and on. Up and down. Up and down go the feelings. And somehow...one must cling to an unchanging God in the midst of it all. 

 This weekend, I took a long walk up at a nearby lake to get away for a bit and clear my mind. Feed the soul. Listen to God. It occurred to me how often we let the moments pass us by in our ever on-going race to get ahead, do more, be better. And in so doing, we miss the now. We skip past the fact that God isn't in a hurry as we usually are...and that we more than likely cannot discover how He really intends our one life to be lived if we're always on the run. Always chasing. 

 If we aren't stopping to breathe...if we aren't pausing to take in Him...then we lose what this who thing is really all about. We lose sight of God. And we become the only thing that matters. Gospel-centered living isn't always about quantity but quality. Making the moments of our days worship. Filling with thankfulness. Blessing and praising. Getting off the beaten road and daring to take the one less-traveled so that we gain perspective. So that we learn to open our eyes and see what matters. 

 Life has seemed to go by me at a blistering pace in recent months. And my soul has been starving to be cared for. In my efforts to check things off a list, I've lost a part of me along the way. And recently, a friend dared me to begin doing life differently. So I am. I'm taking a job that will allow me better hours so that I can slow the pace of life down and take time for what is most important. I'm carving out moments to dig deep into Scripture and soak in all that Jesus is and wants me to become. I'm walking away from the hectic pace of modern-day life so that I can have more chances to love deeply, breathe freely. 

 The losses in my life recently have reminded me, once again, that nothing ever stays the same. People who are here today may be gone tomorrow. And I don't want to keep on living with regrets of what could or should have been done or said before it was too late. 

I've spent a lot of time lately texting or calling people that matter in my life to tell them so. Asking their forgiveness in some cases for all the times I haven't gotten it right with them and making determinations to embrace the gift of them more in the future. 

 Today, I want to challenge you to hug those you love tightly. Don't leave anything important unsaid. Seek out the opportunities you have to bless somebody and make their day better. Make amends where necessary. Because life is too short to spend living in a hurry, putting things off, saying the hasty word, doing the hasty deed, or simply thinking that "now is not a good time" to do something you may never get another chance to. 

 In simple terms: don't let the moments pass you by.