Snatch the Moments
“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14 NKJV).
Life is a vapor. Various events in life remind us of this important fact, but it is so easy to forget the brevity of life during the years that pass like the wind.
This sobering thought permeated my mind this week as I saw my nieces and nephews going back to school. They were several inches taller with beautiful smiles that made me realize these babies are growing older, and time will only pass more rapidly with each day.
As I ponder over the millions of moments that have compiled my life so far, it was not the big victories or methodically planned events that molded and shaped me the most as a person; rather, it was the people who took time for me when I least expected it and chiseled every fine line in my identity. The math teacher who stayed late after class to tutor me, the parent who spontaneously invited me to her daughter’s birthday party, the old man at church who surprised me with a handmade doll house, or the elderly neighbor who gave me fresh tomatoes out of her garden. If I had to sit down and write a list of all the people who have impacted my life, the list would be endless and I would never leave my seat. There are too many moments to count.
Time is fleeting and waits for no one, but people are eternal and their souls live forever. As we start this new school year and pack lunches and book bags full of the important necessities for a great academic experience, let’s not forget to also pack our schedules full of opportunities to encourage a child, a teacher, a parent, or anyone else around us. We may never know the magnitude of our words or actions, but that soul will shine a little brighter with hope for the days to come.
