What would you change?

The other day I heard Dan and Christy Woolley share about their amazing experience one year ago during the earthquake in Haiti. Dan works for Compassion International and was in Haiti doing some work for Compassion when he was trapped for 65 hours in the Hotel Montana following the earthquake. His coworker, who was standing right beside him when the quake hit, was killed instantly. Dan suffered severe injuries to his leg and his head and was trapped in the rubble not knowing if he would be rescued or would survive. He was trapped in about a ten foot area and he had access to his journal, so after many hours, he began writing notes to his wife and 2 boys that he hoped would be found on his body if he died and his body was eventually recovered. I saw pictures of the journal and each page was stained with his blood.

But his words have really stuck with me. As he lay in the darkness, he wanted to say some last things to his family. He told each of his boys how much he loved them. He explained to them "I was in a big accident. Don't be upset with God. He always provides for His children even in tough times. Please turn towards Him." He went on to urge his boys, "Choose the right path everyday. If you stumble, get right back on the path...Don't just live. Change the world."

To his wife, Christy, he wrote, "My greatest regrets are not spending more time discipling with God and not doing more to keep my love life more on fire with you." He told her how much he loved her and while their relationship may have cooled somewhat in the busyness of life and raising young children, he had never stopped loving her.

Dan Woolley went on to share with the radio listeners, "Life is complicated and gets blurry. Our priorities get so convoluted in our day to day lives." Dan rediscovered his priorities in this "extreme moment of clarity--my faith in Christ, loving my family, and serving others."

He admitted even with this near death experience, he still is human and still, like all of us, can struggle with keeping first things first. But he's fortunate in that "I've got a reset button. I reach down and touch the scar on my leg and it brings me back into those moments of clarity. None of us sets out to set aside our most important priorities. Life intervenes. It's important to have things in our lives that bring us back to those most important priorities."

I have been so convicted by his words. If I could have one more chance to say something to my family, what would I say? And what would be my greatest regret? Surely, like Dan Woolley, it would be not spending more time with, expending more effort in what matters most: the Lord, my family, and the people God has placed in my life for me to love and encourage and serve.

None of us has forever on this earth. What if this is my last posting on this blog? What if this is the last time you read something on the computer? What would you, what would I change? Then change it now! What priorities would you or I alter or rearrange? Alter them now! Who would we go to and tell them how much we love them, who would we encourage with words of affirmation or hope? Encourage them now! Hug that child. Write that note. Swallow that pride. Forgive that misunderstanding.

It's time to stop reading books about prayer and start praying. It's time to stop thinking about how I'd like to know God better or be more diligent in reading His Word and just start reading His love letter--today and every day. We may not have next week. We may not have tomorrow. But we have today. So Lord, I'm telling You now that You are glorious and wonderful and gracious and merciful and holy and I long to know and love You better. Help me, help us all, to stop making excuses and start living today in light of eternity. Help us live as if we too were trapped in the rubble, perched on the edge of eternity, and to say and do all that we would wish if we had the opportunity. Help us to heed the clarion call to remember what is truly important and to start living out those priorities today.

We all have a "reset button." It's called repentance. We may have failed as parents. We may have failed as spouses. We may have failed to put God first. In the words of Dan Woolley to his boys, we may have stumbled on the path, but it's never too late to "get back on the right path." Satan would saddle us with condemnation and paralyzing discouragement over our past mistakes or misplaced priorities.

But Christ makes all things new! His mercies are new every morning, and today is the day of salvation. He gives us fresh new days, fresh new years, fresh new starts to come to Him, confess and then begin anew in the power of the Holy Spirit. So come to Him today, right now, and hit that reset button, putting Him first, and then asking Him to enable us to daily keep our priorities in the right order.

I love Edmund Burke's statement that "No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." I may not be able to write a profound blog entry...but I can simply write a little something of what God is putting on my heart. How often have I failed to write because I didn't have a big block of time or I didn't have something I thought was very interesting or helpful to share or I simply didn't "feel" like writing. Yet if God has called me to write, then I need to write despite my feelings, despite my time constraints, despite my limited abilities. So too with every important priority in our lives. We need to place them first and just start doing them whether we feel like it or not, whether we have only a little pocket of time, and whether we feel utterly inadequate to the task before us. Just do it. Do it today. Do it poorly, if necessary, and trust God to bless whatever You give and do to His glory. So Lord, thank You for the words of Dan Woolley. I pray You would use my words to encourage someone else to seek You and Your priorities today. To God alone be the glory!