13 million moments and counting

I did the math. I've been alive for 26 years.

That's 312 months. It also comes out to 1,352 weeks. Multiply by 7 and you get 9,490 days. In hours I've been alive for 227,760 of them. Thirteen-million-six-hundred-sixty-five-thousand-six-hundred is my age in minutes. Give or take a few days for the leap years, a few hours for today, and add the 9 months I was in my mommy's tummy - what we've got is significant time spent on this planet we like to call home.

Yesterday, my birthday, marked the 9,490th day. I was showered with moments of joy as friends and family called, texted and facebooked me wishes for a Happy Birthday! One friend put the day in perspective for me. "This is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice and be glad! Happy Birthday!" she texted. I'm so glad this person was wise to put "my day" back in the hands of the one who created this day. The one who gives us our time is the one who created time. She reminded me each day really belongs to God and no matter what every day is a gift from him.

I've been forgetful lately. I've been gumbly and grumpy, unappreciative, and just plain sad. I haven't been using my moments (all 13 million that have already passed) to remember who is really in control of this thing I like to call "my life." The Lord has given me a gift - the gift of life - as he does all people. Sometimes I've been wasting it by bemoaning it. I'm sorry for that. I know God forgives me. I will change. I hope you can forgive me too.

I've been walking this earth 13 million moments and counting. What happened in those moments? I'll tell you. I grew up in those moments. I was a daughter, a sister, a cousin, and a friend. I learned. I worked. I was a babysitter, lifeguard, a factory worker, a cashier, a teacher. I studied. I traveled. I wrote. I experienced. I moved. I discovered who I am, as I am, where I am. I loved. I fell in love. I became a wife. I was sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes hurt, sometimes helping and sometimes just thinking. In all those moments - I came closer to my Lord.

In all the future moments I pray to keep His promise at the front of my mind each and every day - This is the day He has made! Rejoice and be glad! For it isn't the minutes we have but the way we spend our minutes that counts. Because of Jesus, I know I can be joyful in mine. I can persevere in the difficult minutes. I can gain character through the grinding minutes. I grow closer to my Savior in every minute I focus on Him rather than Me.

I heard it once said, "Life is a thank you note." Let my life be a thank you to my God for all he's done for me. Let my life be Yours. Let it be what You intended. Just as the old songwriter claims, "Let my moments and my days, ever flow in ceaseless praise." Give my life a label of thanks.

Thirteen million minutes and counting...Void, let's make 'em great!