Just Breathe

August 10, 2012

Sitting in the big recliner next to her hospital bed,
Watching her sleep.
Waiting for her next breath.
And the next.

My mind began to drift of times before.
When I was the one in the bed
and my husband sat beside me in the big recliner.
Watching me.
Waiting for the first breath.
And all the ones that would follow.

Two floors down babies are taking their first breath of life
At the same time that others are taking their last.
It seems that the distance between the two is never far enough.
A whirlwind of events seems to overpower time.
One day melts into the next.
Before you know it, you're back in the big recliner.

Do we pay enough attention to how we spend each breath
Between the first one and the last?
Do we waste our breaths on too many things that are not worthy?
Do we take for granted the pattern of the rise and fall of our chest?
Do we even notice it at all?
Do we give enough thought to what happens after our breath is gone?

Just as we all took that very first gulp of air,
We will all, one day, blow out our last.
Make sure the ones in between were not wasted away.
Spend that currency on what matters.
Invest in eternity.
Yours, and others'.
Because, in the end, you leave this world with
The same material possessions you entered with.
Live wisely and
Breathe Love.


{In honor of Aunt Nancy. Oh, how I love you.}

"then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." Genesis 2:7

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" John 11:25-26.

"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God." Psalm 42:1

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men," Colossians 3:23

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HOly Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20