There’s a lot on my mind this evening. I’m sitting here and I’m reminded that life is so short. I think about the tragedies which have occurred over the last few weeks here in America. I’m thinking about the families that are at home hurting tonight, the empty beds and rooms that only a short time ago were filled with laughter, those planning funerals as a result of the senseless and wicked actions of another, and the broken lives.

Life is so incredibly short. We have such a short time here on earth and I often wonder if I’m spending that time wisely. Am I doing everything I can to invest in the lives around me? Where am I failing or coming up short? What can I do better? When I leave this earth, and that day will come at a point I have no control over, who will fill the room at my funeral? What will the emotions of the room be? Will people line up to tell stories about how I have impacted their lives, or will they sit there wondering what refreshments will be served afterwards? Will my closest friends and loved ones be able to say I died and left it all out there, not taking advantage of the day but rather seizing it? Will they say I ran the race well, not lazily going through each day with the assumption another breath will be granted, but that I ran the race and counted the cost; knowing at some point the race would be over and someone would be declared the winner?

If the answer to these questions are ones in which I would be ashamed of hearing today, what is holding me back? Why am I not taking advantage of the time given me today? What needs to change…right now?