we all have this gift...

Back in 2008, I worked for a sit down family restaurant, first as a cash hostess, then worked my way up to assistant manager. While there, I met some very nice patrons as well as those who didn't or couldn't appreciate how hard everyone worked to earn their keep: young single gals serving tables, Hispanics working as cooks or dishwashers, older people who bussed tables, it was a wide-ranging crew we had and I enjoyed being a part of it.

While there one evening, I noticed a couple sitting in a booth, the husband with his arm around his wife. As I watched, I noticed she began turning a shade of purple and seemed to be struggling. When I inquired, the husband said she was "ok, just needed a bit of air." I walked away, but something inside me screamed, "go back!" I had first aid training, due to having worked previously with school age kids; I knew when something was wrong and this was it. I went back, made room for myself in the booth and looked the gal in the eyes. "What can I do for you?" Again, the husband denied she needed help. I ignored him. "Are you diabetic?"

She nodded furiously. Immediately I stood up, grabbed another server and instructed her to get me orange juice. When she brought it out, I helped the woman to drink it, all the while telling the server to call 911 and get an ambulance here ASAP!

The woman was taken away, all the while her husband balked, saying she'd be OK, that it had happened before. I shook my head, asking myself that if it had happened before, why didn't he recognize the signs? Why didn't he ask for help?

It was a busy night and soon, my thoughts went back to work. Scary scene over, let's get on with the routine.

At almost closing time, one of the two paramedics came back in the restaurant. "Are you the one who helped that woman earlier?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"I just want you to know that without your quick thinking, she may have died, as she was going into diabetic shock. You saved her life."

They also, I found out several days later, took the time to contact the higher ups at my company, who then sent a letter to the manager of the restaurant, commending me. I felt pleased, yet humbled. 

And it hit home just how fragile life is.

I lived a horrible life. Abusive mom. Then I married too young to yet another abuser. For 25 years, that was my life with him after the first 17 earlier. By age 42, I was finally divorced and on my own. Figuring out life, making mistakes, meeting and losing people who I thought were friends, but became just another nightmare.
I was done. I determined I would live my life alone.

And then HE came in. A man sent by God to help me redeem my self-esteem. He picked me up, brushed me off and showed me what true, unconditional love really is.

We have been together for eleven years. It has been an up and down ride, full of love, laughter, some tears, a bit of uncertainty but as I look back, I can see how God was there all the way.

And now as my dearly beloved faces a terminal illness, one with no hope of a miracle, I look at what has transpired and cry. I realize with bittersweet tears how fragile life is. Many years ago, I gave another woman her second chance at life, yet for whatever reason, I can't have that same privilege with my own husband. 

I want a do-over!

More than that, I want for each one of you reading this how precious life is. Precious. get that in your minds right now. God gives us this life. Be it good or bad, it is what YOU make of it. In the universe of God, there is no time. God is just "there." It is we humans who have created time. God made the world in "six days," yet it was the early writers who coined that phrase. Geologists tell us the world is millions of years old. Six days? Not hardly! Yet here we are, calculating time. 

Doctors say, "you have X amount of time left!" But they don't truly know, they are just estimating. Even then, you could be hit by a bus tomorrow. None of us knows. And so, we give thanks to God for every little day we have. We make plans, hoping that tomorrows will come and we can carry those plans out. Ultimately, the only One who knows is the One who created us.

Another gal I know is also fighting for her own life after a cancer diagnosis. She is at the point where doctors now say, "we have done all we could..." This is the point where you get to say your good-byes. You get to beg God for one more day. You scream at God about how unfair He is. You get to be human. And wish you were immortal. To see in that crystal ball and know, "how much time does she have left?"

Jesus showed us what true suffering is, yet we accuse God of not understanding US. Why this has to happen to US! And how, God, do you expect me to live without this very special person that you sent to me in the first place?

Life is full of misery, yes but it also has its miracles. A beautiful sunrise. The laughter of a child. A newborn puppy. We have to look real hard sometimes past the misery to see and understand that even when Jesus died...He rose again. It is our promise also.

We cannot choose how our lives will end--or when. Sometimes there is that person who is right there at the right time and gives us another chance. Other times, another chance isn't granted to us. 

Make the most of every minute you have. It can be taken away in a heartbeat or in a more prolonged journey of sorrow. None of us lives forever. Thank God for the "now." It is a gift...that is why it is called the Present.

Amen.