A minute at a time...

Leah's picture drawn late at night, danced into my room, delivered with a giggle.


Jonathan's double doosy cookie, white chocolate Reese's cups...the aroma of the Island Kiss perfume he surprised me with.

The taste of his cherry Chapstick (no I didn't know this was a song) from the goodbye kiss he gave me long before I woke up that morning.


The grin, minus two front teeth, that lights up my boy's face when he sees my picture on Facebook and screams, "My Mommy!"


A student who says you are one of the first teachers to make him feel special and important.

The delight that lights up little Lori's face when I pick her up after school...picking me out of the crowd, weaving between legs, hurling her whole body into my arms.


A note scrawled from thousands of miles away with a well-worn pencil to let me know that my words matter.


A first moment with someone dearly beloved.


A kind smile, empathetic eyes, a shared joke.


Moments that lift (and melt) the heart.

Moments that make life worthwhile.

Moments of encouragement.

Will you choose to live each day in a series of these moments? Will you see in a smile, a word, a thing of beauty, the extension of God's hand reaching out to warm your soul by the fire of His love? Will you reach out, in Jesus' name, in moments?

Because isn't that how Jesus spent His days? A moment at a time? A hand held here, a person restored there, a baby held, and a cool night around a campfire by the Sea of Galilee with His disciples?

"Be very careful how you live...making the most of every opportunity." Ephesians 5:15-16

Every opportunity...a life lived a moment at a time.

Moments are all we have...and from the example of Jesus, we know lives are changed in moments. Spend yours with smiles, kisses, cuddles, compassion, need-meeting, chin-upping, delighting in each delicious second! Forget the big picture for a minute; it will just stress you out...and by the way, God's got it all worked out. Forget your "I needs" and luxuriate in your "I haves." Leave each moment for Christ, and in the end, you will see it woven into a tapestry of beautiful sacrifice, lovely memories, tiny treasures...things that last forever.