Moments are gifts

I have been deliberating starting a blog for months but have really struggled with whether or not I had time, anything worth writing, etc.... I finally decided to do one but just haven't been able to come up with a name that I really liked. I thought long and hard about the name of my blog as I felt like it would define who I am and what my blog is in bloggerworld. :o) I probably gave it way more thought than necessary but names mean a lot to me. Fast forward to tonight......
6 months ago this weekend my 18yo brother died in a car accident. As I visited his grave and talked with him and God I was struck by the thought that in 1 moment our lives can completely change. We tend to think in terms of months, years, life spans but all we really have is the moment that we are in. There is no guarantee that we have any more moments. When I received word that Nathan was in an accident my life was forever altered. From that moment on nothing has been the same and it never can be. As I knelt at his grave pondering the many missed opportunities to tell him that I loved him, the many times that I couldn't see past the fact that he was an annoying little brother to see that he wanted assurance of love, the hugs that should have been given, the times that I should have said more or less.......... I realized the irrevocable nature of moments. We can not change what we have done with our moments. Each moment that I have with my husband, with my sweet kids, with my family and friends, are moments that I need to take advantage of. I tend to get caught up in survival mode and don't seize them and make the most of them. I let my chronic pain and tiredness get in the way. I have too many "laters" in my days. I realize that this thought process is nothing new or earth shattering, it has just been made real to me in ways that it never has been before and I don't want to forget this lesson.

As I left the cemetery tonight I knew that I needed to bless each moment, to use it for glorifying my Heavenly Father, and to thus teach my children to do the same.

How about you? Are you living each moment to the fullest for the Father?