Weekly Word for June 8-14, 2003

...but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:51b & 52a)

July 4, 1998 - That is one day, one moment that is forever etched into my memory. It is the day that my son and daughter-in-law (Mike and Becca) were married. They had been planning their wedding day for a few months. They had picked a date: February 1999 - and then proceeded to make all the arrangements. On this particular day -July 4th- Mike called me. I hadn’t heard from him or Becca for a few days. He said: “Hi mom!” “Guess where we are!” Of course to this day he still tells the story of my answer! I told him I didn’t know - and said a couple of places including “prison!” He then told me that they were in Las Vegas! I have to admit I was surprised. But I wasn’t upset by it, or sad. He sounded so excited and happy. He told me that they were getting married that evening. I listened to him and told him I was happy for them. He then told me he would call the next day. That night, at 1:00am to be exact, I woke up to hear the song “From this Moment” by Shania Twain. I knew that at that precise moment that my son was getting married! I felt as if the Lord had awakened me just so I could be there, in spirit, with him. The next day when they called, I asked the time they got married. He said 10pm. Which was 1am here on the east coast! He said they walked out of the chapel and looked up at the sky - and there were fireworks - and he felt as if they were just for them! It was one of those special moments - those gifts of time - that are but a blink of an eye!

We all have them - moments of time - that are special, that we remember that strongly. The moment we hold our new baby, the first time we kiss the love of our lives, the moment we first say good-bye to a loved one. Moments - passages of time that slip away so quickly.

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - (Eccl. 3:1)

We all know this verse. A time to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted. Yet I know that many of us miss those moments in time. And sometimes they never come again! Over the years the Lord has shown me how important it is to pay attention to those moments in time that He shows us. It is as if He opens the door, and we have the choice to walk through or not. Each of us have, at times, missed walking through some of these doors. Does the Lord open new doors? Yes! But there are losses!

Years ago I lost a best friend to cancer. It was an amazing time - walking with her the last months of her life. We would talk about everything - her fears, her wants, those things that she was thinking about as she got closer to leaving this earth. I consider this time to be one of those gifts - moments that I will always remember! A few weeks before she died, we were sitting in her living room talking. She started talking about the things she wanted to give her family and friends to remember her by. Just then, I knew that the presence of the Lord was in the room with us. His want for her was that she would do this - and do it now! So we talked about all that she wanted each to have! We laughed and smiled as she decided what each would get and what they would think as they held their gifts. Somehow I knew that she had to do this immediately - time was running out. When I left she told me she would continue to think about each person and each gift. A few days later I asked her if she had written down what she wanted to do - and if she had given her husband and son what we had talked about. She said “no” - not yet. It was as if she figured if she didn’t do it yet - she would continue to live here on earth. A few days after this - she slipped into a coma. She left us a week later. She never did talk with her family and friends about the things she wanted them to have. It was a moment that never came again!

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - . . . A time to keep, and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together; A time to be silent, and a time to speak. (Eccl. 3:1, 6b-7)

Some moments in time are of life and death importance. It is as if the Lord is saying: “I need you to do this - and to do it now!” One of these moments happened when my daughter was about 16 years old. She had been working at a horse farm, and her friend came to pick her and another friend up to take them home. The three teen-agers got into the car and started driving home. Somehow they angered two men. These men then got into a truck and started chasing these children. I later learned that at times the speeds got upwards of 80 to 90 miles per hour! On very small, winding back roads they were being chased. As this was happening, two of my closest friends were visiting each other and felt an urgent need to pray. They felt that it was so important that they stopped everything and prayed and prayed! The two men then cut off the car that Jen and her friends were in. The men jumped out and attacked the car! Smashing in windows, and grabbing at the terrified kids! The driver, Jen’s friend, somehow got the car to back up, and they got away! I received the call from the police station. When I got there, the three of them had only minor cuts from the shattered glass! I could only stare at them, and at the smashed in car with amazement that they had lived! Then I learned of how my friends had been praying for someone in my family (they weren’t sure who!). I thank the Lord that He asked them in that specific moment to be part of helping my daughter!

We all have moments in time that we either say “yes” or “no” to! Those moments that He opens to us - those are the ones that we need to say “yes” to!

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life,” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Will you take this moment - and choose to say “yes” to what He opens to you? Will you choose Life? And not let the moment slip away!


God bless you in the coming week ahead.

In His Love,

Debbie and Ted Ayers