Defining Moments

(from In Christ's Arms by Matt Albritton)

DID YOU ever play the game “Freeze Tag” as a child? Kids running and playing as though everything were normal and then the one who is “it” tags someone and yells, “freeze tag!” Everyone else has to freeze exactly as they are when they hear the word. The first person to stumble or move from their “frozen position” becomes “it” for the next round.

There are moments in all of our lives that are frozen in time and frozen in our memories. They can be good moments or bad moments.  Moments of utter joy and moments of profound grief. Whatever else they may be, these are moments that are locked in our hearts and minds because of the power they hold in our lives. You can almost relive them now. Remember? 

That first kiss.

When she said, “Yes.”

The look on the doctor’s face.

The day your child was born.

The time your mortgage was approved on that first home.

The time you lost a friend or the person you loved most.

All these are moments locked in place and in some sense time stops when these frozen moments are called to mind. The most dramatic of them are those moments of life and death that make up the most wonderful and the most devastating events of our lives. “Defining moments” some people call them.

A few years ago I lost two friends who were very close to me. Two men that I looked up to and was able to confide in with confidence. I trusted them and they trusted me to be honest with one another. Men that loved me enough to tell me the truth when I was doing something right or when I was doing something wrong. I miss them both dearly.

As I have gotten older I have learned something about the people God puts in our lives. We should cherish them every day because we don’t know when it will be the last day. We should give them the very best of our life; don’t short-change the people you love. We should truly listen to them when they are trying to communicate to us; they may have something important to say. And the most significant thing to remember is to let the words “I love you” be the last thing that they ever hear you say to them.

Remember to give your very best daily to the Lord you serve and the people you love. That is the only way to be prepared for the last day when it comes.