The sun was lazily setting behind the church
building arraying the sky with beautiful shades of oranges and reds. My team and I were sitting on a grassy bank
holding a Bible Study for the youth in our community. As we finished, we sat cross-legged eating
delicious crackers and drinking Cokes out of glass bottles. We began to sing, “You make everything
glorious.” Then it hit me, I was in the
midst of living a special moment. I held
back tears as the youth we had come to know and love sang praise songs to our
Jesus in broken English. I glanced at
the faces which had grown so dear. I saw
Kezlaan, wearing a huge grin as he sang wholeheartedly and attempted to mimic
the motions we were making up on the spot. I felt his joy penetrate deep within me. How could it not? It is so
contagious. I saw Giggles laughing and
singing simultaneously while stealing peeks at the boys. I saw Steven with his servant’s heart passing
out a second round of cookies. And
there’s little Jabez chasing the cows and popping dirt into his mouth. I saw toddlers, barely walking, drinking out
of coke bottles half their size and I couldn’t help but simply stop in
recognition of the moment I was living. A special memory in the making.
Moments.
They pass us by so quickly and are nearly
impossible to capture. I have lived an
incredible story this year and I wonder how many once in a lifetime moments I
have taken for granted. Now they have
passed me by, many of them already forgotten. Slipped away. Ungraspable. I spent many of these moments wishing them
away, dreaming of the mediocre as I wallowed in selfishness with thoughts of
the food I was craving and the people back home I was missing. I didn’t grab hold of the once in a lifetime
experiences I was living.
It’s the moments that truly matter and I want to
recognize and embrace them. I want to
live a life of passion and abandon.
Now that the race is almost over, I am grabbing up
each moment. I am hungry for them. I notice them, appreciate them, and cherish
them. Why is that we don’t appreciate
the things we have until they are slipping away? I’ve had enough with longing for the
future. I want to start living for
today, for the NOW. With that being
said, I’m going to get off this computer and go laugh with my team. I’m going to go cherish another moment.
