Fleeting Moments

Psalm 30:11-12: “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.  Lord my God, I will praise you forever” (NIV).

We have entered into the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  You know, that hurried time of buying and wrapping Christmas presents, preparing food and attending work parties, school parties for our kids, making out Christmas cards, and getting together with family and friends.  About a month ago, I started to feel overwhelmed because my schedule was already out of control – how was I going to manage to pile more on my plate without completely neglecting my family, my health, my sleep, my exercise program (or lack thereof), and my work…and I could forget about having time to get together with friends.

Then God showed me through two different sources (I always know He’s talking directly to me when He brings up the same message from multiple sources) that what it all boils down to, really, are moments.  I have only so many moments in my life and they are fleeting.

I have one chance, sometimes, to bless a stranger, to make a difference in a random child’s life, to share God’s love with a friend, or to show my family how much I treasure them.  These are all fleeting moments.

How do I want to be remembered? What am I going to want to remember?  Do I want to remember being chained to my desk, staring out the window at the snow-covered grass, admiring the snowman my children had to build themselves, or do I want to smell the crisp air, taste the snowflakes on my tongue, and hear their laughter as I help build a lopsided and very unique snowmen family?  Do I want to remember family movie nights with popcorn and hot chocolate and laughter and sometimes tears or do I want to remember my angry voice ringing in my ears telling my kids one more time to be quiet so I can get my work done?  Do I want to remember holidays spent with family reminiscing about the old, building memories for the future, and living with no regrets?  Do I want to achieve balance in my life so that I can fall asleep at night next to my husband and wake up wrapped in his strong arms?

Yes, after God gave me those images, I realized what was really important and what I would need to do in order to keep the right priorities, not just during this holiday season but also throughout the year.  I won’t get it right all the time.  The reality of life is that there will still be days that I’m chained to my chair watching the snowmen get built without me, but I plan on experiencing instead of watching more moments than I had in the past, because after all, they are fleeting.

So, if in the next half hour you need me, I’ll be cuddled on the couch reading books to our three-year-old.  Soon he will be in school full time like his siblings and these moments will also be gone.  I’m not going to miss out while I still have a chance to savor every last one.   Maybe, just maybe, tonight would be a good night for a rousing game of Spoons with the whole family.