Heartbeat

Ya know those moments when time stands still and you find yourself thinking about life in a different way? I've had two of those moments within the past 24 hours.

Last night I had to drive home and grab my trumpet cuz I realized I had forgotten to bring it with me for lessons. I had a 10-minute window, so I left the car running, ran inside, ran out, jumped in and took off. Upon reaching the intersection that I just came through, a half mile down the road from our subdivision, I was among the first people to stop at a horrific accident. There was a mangled pickup flipped in the ditch, with the driver still strapped in his seatbelt hanging upside down. In the opposing lane was a compact sedan that had been slammed by the truck to the point that you could not tell what kind of car it was.

I got out to see if I could be of any assistance, and on first glance, I thought the woman driving the car was dead. Then I noticed that she was breathing, though slumped over and unresponsive, and went to check on the driver of the truck, who seemed fine. A few minutes later, I left to get out of the way of emergency vehicles as they arrived. Three hours later on my way home, the intersection was still closed as the accident was being investigated.

I kept thinking to myself, "I was at that exact spot in a moment of time not more than 60 seconds prior that happening." And as I earnestly prayed for the people involved, I was also grateful that it wasn't me. I realized again how precious and fragile life really is.

Today I met my wife at her OB appointment, and had another moment. The doc pulled out the little ultrasound dealy and moved it around on her belly until he found it...the heartbeat of our third child. There's something about that sound that makes everything else inside of you shut up and listen. The sound of new life being knit together, vivacious and tenacious...what a beautiful sound! Makes me tear up right now thinking about it; makes me wanna be the father my children deserve all over again. At what point do some of us stop living, when we all started out so determined and unstoppable?

Life is a gift. Every heartbeat, every minute, every memory. May we never take for granted this precious gift; may we make the most of all of it--the good, the bad, and the ugly. We won't pass this way twice, only once. Let's live while we're here baby! "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." --Jesus