live today

my cousin and I, two years ago, the day after his birth

I sat in the kitchen, holding the new baby in my arms. She was soft and pink and had a black mohawk and cheeks like pillows (perfect for kissing).  Every time I am offered the chance to hold a newborn baby--and I do drink those opportunities up like they’re a life-saving liquid that’s running dry--I marvel at such a miracle. It was incredible to me how one week ago I was sitting at this table talking to a very pregnant mama, and now here I was with a baby in my arms.

Life, it is a miracle. Life is not to be squandered in hopes of tomorrow. Life is today! There are so many reasons we give to excuse ourselves from doing and being and living today, but there are no good excuses. Life is given today, to be used today. We need to bless and live and give and serve and love today.

We can wait until tomorrow, but guess what? The opportunities will be different. Never again will we live a February 8th, 2014 or a September 23, 1995. And February 9th, 2014 may not come for us. Jesus may call us home before that, and we will have lost the chance to share His love on earth. I learned that this fall. Mortal life can be taken away at any moment, any place, any age.

Personally, I too often live in the future. I highly anticipate tomorrow and plan for next week and dream of next year. And they are all good and necessary things. But when I start to live more in the future than in the present, that’s when it becomes unhealthy and ungrateful. The Lord has given me today to live in. I should not take it for granted. Through His grace I am learning that tomorrow will worry about itself, and I need to focus on living in the moment and appreciating the hour’s blessings for what they are.

LIFE is today! So much time and so many opportunities are lost as we hurry from one day to another, but if we stop and choose joy and appreciate the blessings given to us, our hearts will only expand. We will be thanking Him for his creation today, instead of saying yeah, great. Thanks, but I'm really busy right now. I'll catch you later. In so doing, we are loving God by taking the time we enjoy what He has given us.

The miracle of life is something I will never fully understand. The miracle of how soul and body are tied together into one and how that one grows in his mother and then enters this world and breathes and cries and poops is beyond me. (I just make it my mission to hold and love them!) But I do know something about life. It is singular. There is only ever going to be one person living your life, and that's you. You're only doing this once. You've only got one life. And yes, it matters. You matter.

This is what I am learning: to love and to have faith and to choose joy, today.