Most of my favorite Christmas movies are older than I am, but there are a few “newer” ones I try to watch every year, including While You Were Sleeping — the movie that most people remember for launching Sandra Bullock’s career.
(When it first came out, I was actually more excited to discover the cast included Glynis Johns — the lovely grandmother — who I’d last seen as the absent-minded mother / sister-suffragette in Mary Poppins!)
There are so many hilarious scenes in the movie that ring true to life, especially the ones where members of the family all talk over each other — and respond dramatically differently (sometimes inappropriately) to the situations they find themselves in.
And there are some very memorable lines, like this exchange between father and son:
Ox: “You work hard, try to provide for the family, and then, for one minute, everything´s good. Everyone´s well. Everyone´s happy. In that one minute, you have peace.”
Jack: “Pop, this isn´t that minute.”
It makes me laugh, but I wince a little, too. Because there’s a powerful truth there about the minutes – the moments – we spend our whole lives trying to find…
The older I get, the more I look back and realize that so many of those “perfect” moments never came… or when they did, I missed them, because I was busy working toward other moments. Or they just went by so fast!
I didn’t realize it then, but those were the good old days.
These are the good old days.
Or they will be, eventually.
As Jesus people, we know it’s true that this life isn’t all there is… and that there are better days to come. There is greater joy ahead.
But we also know that this life matters. It counts for something – for eternity. There are some things we can only do, only experience in our time here. And we want to make the most of it.
When I was in high school, a pop singer who’d been married twenty years released a song in which he asked his wife a series of questions — all about whether he had ever truly expressed his love and affection for her. Each verse began with the question, “Did I ever…?” And each verse ended,
If I never did it, I was only waiting
for a better moment that didn’t come.
There never could be a better moment
than this one, this one…
And that’s where I find myself today. Remembering that perfect moments are few and far between, elusive and fleeting (if not downright imaginary).
I don’t want to miss the great moments, the pretty good moments, or even the okay moments I have today, because I’m waiting for a better moment — a moment that will never come.
I don’t want to miss the moments I have to be fully present with the people I love – to enjoy our time together. To laugh together, cry together, pray together, play together. To really listen to one another and help one another and express our love and appreciation for one another.
Even if the moment isn’t perfect. Even if it’s not the way I planned or imagined it. Even if they don’t follow the script I’ve written for us in my head.
I don’t want to miss the moments I have to connect with God – to experience His presence in my daily life – because I’m too busy, or my world is too cluttered or noisy and there’s no room for Him “in the inn.”
Or because I’ve confined my devotional life to a certain time and place or to a certain method — and He doesn’t stick to the script I’ve written for us in my head.
I don’t want to miss the moments I can actually make a difference, in this mixed-up, messed-up, crazy world we live in. The opportunities to be Jesus’ hands and feet.
This moment may be the moment He wants to use me.
This moment may not look perfect or feel perfect to me. It may not be everything I imagined or hoped or dreamed or prayed it would be.
But it’s all I have – this moment.
And it’s my offering.
If you need help refocusing and remembering to be mindful of the moments God’s given you, try taking a 30 second break like this one (you’ll find others on my Pin Quotes page):
