23 Months and Counting :: Life is Short

Sunday was our little one’s 23 month birthday. It was especially significant to me because from now on, we probably won’t count his age in months anymore. Once you hit that two year milestone, I think you stop saying...oh, he’s 32 months...well, she’s 46 months...because honestly, who wants to do the math? I guess we have to move to the “and-a-halfs” every other six months now.

As I pondered how quickly these 23 months have gone by, I had something else thrown into the mix to consider. A couple from our church just lost their little boy. He was beautiful and only two and a half years old. He wasn’t in an accident or hit by a car; he just choked on a piece of apple. They struggled to remove it and he went into a coma from the lack of oxygen. Too much damage was done to his brain for him to recover. After days of hoping and praying, he passed on. My heart is sore for this family. We’ve never been introduced and I am sure they don’t know me from a bar of soap, but the realities of life hit hard when someone loses a child. Whether the loss is in your neighbourhood, your church or your child’s school...if life ends suddenly for someone who seems to young to say goodbye to, it can strike your heart with fear, with frustration, with sadness and confusion.

Psalm 90:12 says:

Considering this deep loss and praying for this family has given me a good opportunity to remember that we’re grass. We can flourish in the morning and be gone by evening.

How many times have you seen a movie where the main character realizes they only have a short amount of time to live, and suddenly their life perspective changes completely? We’re encouraged to always remember that our time is short, because it gives us a better perspective on what’s important, and, hopefully, what’s not.

The Bear got up from his nap a little grumbly this afternoon, so I held him for a few minutes and then put him down. Although I have only had a few minutes to get to the things I want to get done because I’ve been busy doing things that need to get done today, he grumbled again and I decided to just hold him again, and stroke his back, and appreciate the moment for a little while longer.

It’s good for us to enjoy the gift of life in days, weeks and months -- being thankful for the time that we’ve had and cognisant that we aren’t promised tomorrow. If you knew you didn’t have much time left, what changes would you make? Where would you look back and feel sorry you didn’t go for it? What dreams would you start chasing?

Why not start today?

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Caroline Collie is a thinker and a dreamer, a Missionary Mom, and a lover of bacon and avocado. She and her husband, and their Scottish-African-American son, live just outside Cape Town, SA and are the Directors of a Charity called Samaritan’s Feet South Africa. You can read more from Caroline at her blog, From Africa, With Love.