It is a dreary morning. Cold. Gray. Drizzly. It matches my heart perfectly. Matt woke me up about 45 minutes ago with the news that our friends Rocky and Kristi lost their 17-year-old daughter, Nikki, in a car accident last night. Rocky is on Matt's team at work, and our team is like our family. I sat there in bed and produced a thunderstorm of my own, torrential downpours and all. 7 1/2 years ago I was the one who got that dreaded late-night call informing me that my Grampa had been killed in a car wreck. He fell asleep at the wheel on the interstate between San Jose and Sacramento. Died instantly as his open convertible flipped several times.
So my heart is breaking this morning for Rocky and Kristi, and their other daughter, Cheri. If you'd take a moment to pray for them, I'd really appreciate it. I know they would, too. Rocky is currently in Las Vegas promoting the upcoming LifeChange event. He's trying to get an earlier flight home. Please pray that he can get home as quickly as possible.
When I finished my "What I've Learned" post yesterday, I concluded with a phrase that has been key in my life: Savor The Moment. Now seems like an appropriate time to tell the story behind that phrase.
When I was 12 years old, my parents flew me to Casper, Wyoming to go visit my friend Betsy and her family. I also stopped over with friend Kathryn and her family in Denver for a few days. I was gone for 12 days in all, and I got dreadfully homesick. I was so homesick, in fact, that I could not enjoy my time with Betsy. After a few miserable days, I called my mom and begged her to change my flight so I could come home right then. She said no, and introduced me to a phrase that has impacted the rest of my life.
Savor the Moment.
So many, many times in the 18 years since then, I have caught myself wishing away time. Or hurrying through an activity or task. Or getting so caught up in the details that I have missed the opportunity to find something special in the big picture. As I have gotten older, I find myself returning to my mom's advice more and more. I've realized the brevity of life, and I'm becoming more focused on savoring each moment God gives me. That is why I've become such an avid photographer. That is why I take pains to record our lives in my scrapbooks. That is why I blog about the "unimportant" details of a perfect Saturday afternoon, or sharpie art by my son. Life is happening all around me all the time, and there is so much to enjoy. So much that could easily pass by without notice.
And you never know when a slick spot on a wet roadway...or an undiagnosed heart condition...or some crazy person with a gun, might use one moment to change life as you know it forever.
My fire is rekindled. Today I will be intentional about making a memory with my children. I will stop and Savor this day. I will blog each day this next week about how I Savored the Moments God gave me. I challenge you to Savor your Moments, too.
5 comments:
Thanks Em for this post. God has really been laying on my heart to do the same. Life can be so overwhelming that I just want to get by and wish the time away. I don't think that's the mindset God wants us to have. Thanks for the reminder!
Good post. That's the same conclusion I've come to. Savor the moment. I misread it at first. I saw "Savior" instead of "savor". But then I thought, for those who know the Savior, we do experience a different reality.(John 10:10) We are saved, and we savor the moments in light of our Savior. It's different with Him in our lives, than if we were going through things like this on our own.
What a great reminder. I just found out that my Grandma died this morning. I knew it was coming, but I'm still surprised by how it has hit me. Losing a child is the worst thing I can possible imagine, and your friends will be in my prayers today.
Em, I'm so sorry to hear about this. I'll be praying for her family... and for you guys as well. Good time to teach Whitney about life and how its fleeting and we don't know when our days are up. I love taking those opportunities to teach Ethan, though I think he's still a bit young at this point. :)
Thank you for your sweet words about Rocky and Kristi and Cherie. My husband and I were their pastors in Paso Robles for 7 years. We got the call this morning from a mutual friend. We are praying for them and hope to be there at the service.
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