Tag: Psalm 90:12

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on the Time We Have Left

No one really knows how much time they have left.

Last week Gary and I got the shocking news that dear friends of ours were killed in a car/train accident. We held each other and cried for our loss, and then we cried some more when we thought about their family. Three children and their spouses. Nine precious grandchildren. How could they go on without Joel and Rosemary?

Joel and Rosemary Sult – Allison, Iowa

But they will go on. We all will. We can rejoice that our friends knew and loved the Lord and they’re now in heaven. We’ll cry, but we can also laugh when we remember their sense of humor, smile when we remember their kindness, and chuckle when we think of Joel singing barbershop tags with the angels.

It’s sobering when something like this happens. It reminds the rest of us that we don’t really know how much time we have left. Our lives could be over in the blink of an eye, or we could live well past one hundred. Only God knows when we’ll join him someday.

For now, we need to live for him, making the most of every day.

God has plans for us. He has a purpose for each of our lives. The Holy Spirit will show us those plans and purposes if we talk to him and choose to listen. He’ll also give us the wisdom and strength to do the things God has for us in the years we have left.

Our friends lived a full and rich life. They accomplished so much in the time they had here on this earth. We still can’t believe they’re gone, but we’re so glad we had the chance to know them and love them.

May all of us make the most of each day we have left.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 NIV)

Are you tempted to live as if you had all the time in the world? How can focusing on God help you prioritize the plans he has for you in the time you have left?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on 1 Second

My daughter did something so cool last year.

She downloaded an app and chose a 1 second video snippet to represent each day. On December 31 she posted it to Facebook and all of her friends and family could watch 365 seconds of her life go by. It was so interesting!

Of course, I recognized what was happening in many of the little snippets of her life (and I even saw myself and the rest of the family a couple of times). I was inspired and immediately downloaded the “1 Second Everyday: Video Diary” app (more info at 1secondeveryday.com).

Today I watched Erin’s video again and noticed even more than I had the first time.

I was reinspired, so I opened the app on my phone and added snippets for the first two days of the year. (You’re curious? For Wednesday I added a picture of my 3 big goals for this year and said “Here we go!”; for yesterday I took a video of our cribbage board with a deck of cards spread out in front of it and said “The guys won” – because, of course, I forgot to take a video when our friends were over last night.)

As the days go by, I think I’ll get better at capturing a moment on my phone as it happens and adding it to the app so I can look back at the year and remember it in a cool way.

The exciting and the mundane.

The highs and the lows.

The little moments that make up another year of living.

Even if you don’t get the app and record your 1 second each day, I encourage you to be more aware of each second that goes by. Take notice of it. See what’s happening around you. Who are you with? What are you doing? How are you feeling? What mental snapshot can you take to make sure you remember?

The older I get, the more I realize that our years fly by faster and faster.

If we aren’t deliberate about how we’re living, we’ll look back someday and wonder what we actually did with all of those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.

I predict that if I actually use this app, I’m going to be more conscious of all the things going on as I live each day. I might even do some things I normally would be too lazy to do, just so I can add them to my app. I’m going to be more aware of what I’m doing, what others are doing, and what I want to take note of before the day is over.

I can’t wait to see what my little 365 second movie looks like on December 31, but I’m even more excited about being more deliberate about living each second of 2020.

“Teach us to number our days [and our seconds], that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 NIV – brackets mine)

Does time seem to fly by without you taking much notice? How can focusing on God help you to be more mindful of each second that goes by this year?