Reflections...

Last week I promised some reflections on growing older and while I thought I was going to get away without sitting down and typing this out, my friend David Brown reminded me that I still had not done it so here it goes. As some of you know, my birthday was last Monday. 29...and holding. It only goes downhill from here so I think Monday will probably be the last birthday I celebrate. Next year when I hit the big 3-0 (Ugh!) I think I will just refuse to celebrate my birthday and hold at 29. Like a game of blackjack, I'll pass and keep the numbers I'm holding...But anyway, I really am not that super depressed so here are some things that I've realized along the years about life and growing older. Hope you enjoy.

#1. Life really does go by faster the older you get. I used to think people were insane when they would say this, but it is so true. A semester of school took forever when I was in high school and now the entire school year is gone if I blink more than once. As you grow older, you begin to reflect on months and years, instead of days because the days go by so fast there is little reflection to do. While it still makes no sense to me how this one works, it is definitely true.

#2. Growing older really isn't all that bad. I used to dread turning that one year older each January 15th. I guess I have either realized it isn't that bad or just come to the realization that it's a battle I can't win. But with each year of age comes new experiences, new challenges, new life, and new growth. At each stage of life we are met with things that make us stronger than we were before, give us more wisdom than we previously had, and allow us to truly appreciate and TASTE life in a whole new way...In that light, growing older has it's benefits.

#3. My final thought is probably my most significant one and it is this: LIFE IS SHORT. DO SOMETHING. Life flies by. It seems that one minute we're in the theater of life watching the previews for the upcoming shows and then we glance down to our watches and realize we're 118 minutes into the movie and the screen credits are coming up soon and it's all over. And yet, in knowing this, so many of us WASTE our lives on trivial, meaningless crap. We spend all our time and treasure and talent on things that fade and have no real meaning. We work and live to store up things that rust and are destroyed. Life is short. Live it. Do something that lasts, that is real, that won't fade away as you do...Make a difference. You know, the longer I live the more I appreciate the time I get to spend with my family. I love the weekends where I actually have enough free time to just get away with my wife and breathe and just be us, whether that is a trip to the movies or a walk through the park. I cherish the time I get to spend with my grandparents, who are getting up there in age, and the time I share with my parents and my brother. I cherish that time because I realize those are the things that really matter. I cherish the time I get to spend outside of the walls of my office, really ministering to a student. I love the times I get to spend a week on a mission trip serving others and serving the kingdom of God...And I have come to realize that the reason I cherish these moments is because that is when I am truly ALIVE. It is in those moments, the ones that really matter, that I LIVE. So I don't know what your weekend consists of. I don't know what career choices you have made or what lies ahead in your life for the next month, year, decade...But I do know this: Life is short so do something with it. Go home and spend the evening just listening to your wife tell a funny story about her childhood you have never heard before. Email your parents and let them know how much you appreciate them. Call your grandparents and let them know that their grandchild idolizes them and loves them greatly. Go home from work and play a game of catch with your son or read a story to your little girl. Give your brother or sister a shout just to say hello. Spend some time reading the Word of God at the park allowing God to speak his love into your heart. Find something in your community or at your church or in your neighborhood worth doing...I mean really worth doing, something that will LAST...and get in on it. Life goes by too fast to spend time on meaningless, futile stuff. If we're not careful we get caught going through life without LIVING or BEING ALIVE. Life is short. Don't waste it. Do something. Live.