Making Up Moments

People that I have conversed with over my professional and personal life have usually used the word "moment" to describe his or her present time or a particular situation having occurred in that person's lifetime. As I pondered the word "moment," a familiar song, "One Moment In Time," popped into my mind, sung by the infamous Whitney Houston (...and now, I will have an "ear-worm" for the rest of the day by this memory). The lyrics are so meaningful and prophetic...the writers, Bettis and and Hammond wrote of being the best person one could possibly be, reaching total fulfillment in life while making dreams reality; and then, in the end, the person making the most of their life seems to be able to say, "I will be free, I will be free." Or so the writers would have us think. Moments...moments. Are we fulfilling our purpose within each moment that we live? What  testimony are each of us reaching as we live day to day? With that said, why is it that as people grow older, they seem to be bombarded by regret? I continue to ponder "moments".

Every day, I find myself in "moments" that are so important to me as a wife, a mother, as a daughter and granddaughter, as a teacher and as a friend, and these moments make me who I am. These moments are composed of millions of decisions that I make from the time I awaken until the second I fall asleep in the evening. If any person were to document each waking second of the day, recording what is occurring in his or her life, what would each person be doing? How would people be living their moments, whether the moment being measured is that exact second or a measurement from an extended period of time? What would the recorded data read?

I came to the conclusion last year, as I crept upon my 49th birthday, that I wanted to make up some moments in my life; moments that I chose NOT to do the right thing, that I didn't help someone, that I made the wrong comment, or that I failed to lend a hand. I now know, from working daily with students who could be considered underprivileged and who are considered by the world's terms, "at-risk", that I want to make up moments to serve others, looking for ways to make someone see the light, the good, in me; to be a blessing and an encouragement to others as Jesus desired of his disciples. Basically, I want to help others "at-risk" of becoming what they were meant to become at birth!

When I look to the Bible to find those scriptures to inspire me to make the "world a better place," I always seem to fall upon the words of Paul. Everyone knows of Paul, the also-known-as "Saul" and murderer of the followers of Jesus. And, with that said, it is even MORE important to point out that Paul's life was an awesome inspiration and testimony to life; one man's journey to "make up moments" for his Savior, Jesus; and "make up moments" to overcome the consequences of his past. One cannot say that the darkest decisions of our lives do not overwhelm and haunt us. Even with the understanding that all our sins and darkest moments were washed away by the blood of our precious Lamb of God on that cross, we are still often consumed with the memory of those things from our past that we dislike and relive them whenever that memory is triggered. I believe Paul experienced a difficult time dealing with his merciless actions once he found Christ. I know he had triggers that caused him to relive the situations. But, I also learned from Paul that ONLY by allowing Christ to have dominion over our minds, our thoughts, our dreams can we be permitted to move forward and overcome those triggers...I have learned that we cannot allow our past to dictate who we are and what we are supposed to become. We must relinquish our thoughts and minds to our Heavenly Father.

I had a conversation with my son and eldest daughter the other day regarding their abilities to look ahead and begin expecting for what was to come. Both of my oldest children, like the rest of the human population, often looks to the past, wading in the miseries and bad thoughts of "what could have been" and the "whys" and "how comes," and what I shared with him was this, PEOPLE ARE NOT IN CONTROL. Whatever is going on in an individual's "moment" in life, the conclusiveness always ends up falling back upon the notion that people are never in control. No matter how hard one tries to determine his or her destiny or method to freedom, people have to come to the conclusion that God is the only difference between the sun rising and the sun setting on our lives...and everything in between belongs entirely to Him, whether the person is a believer or not. Sometimes, that belief aspect is the most difficult to understand, to grasp hold of, and, regrettably, not being able to do those things holds up most of our blessings, especially if our belief system lacks the ability to acknowledge a higher power of existence. And as my mother always says, "People have the right to be wrong!"  Perhaps, but to my experience, it is those that do believe that oftentimes hinder the belief systems because of their own personal demonstrations.

My youngest child was in deep thought the other day and asked me what was the soul purpose of people on Earth. When I began to share my beliefs, she stopped me mid-sentence and stated, "without using religious factors." Well, I was quite shocked. Here is my child, one who has been brought up in a Christian environment, asking me to NOT include religion in my discussion of the moment she was having. Really? "To thine be the Kingdom..." I said. I concluded our conversation explaining how EVERYTHING is out of our hands and all in His. Our purpose, our moments in our life belong solely to HIM.  Nothing else matters. It is the moments in our lifetime that we give to Him for HIM to work within our lives...because NOTHING we do could EVER measure up to His grace and forgiveness...and perfect plan.

Making up moments within an individual's lifetime is valuable; but, even more valuable is making up moments with the notion of allowing Jesus to be a guide throughout the process. As the guide, a person's notions of "moments" cannot be self-serving, but, rather, Christ serving.  That dominion in one's life can be highly effective, aiding in exponential growth as a person and as a Child of God, developing our Souls into a maturation only a person can experience with Him. Meanwhile, He is able and willing to remove regret and those insane self-control factors that so often inhibits His existence, leaving Him to respond within humans as a creative companion, a mutualistic partner, and a protecting deity. These are the supernatural spiritual ways He can  connect with humans and more importantly, let's not forget, through His Son, Jesus Christ; the reason behind human existence. Making up moments via our Heavenly Father makes us able to be free; the "God's freedom" that is expressed in 1 Peter 2:16 and Romans 8:1-4. Don't you just love our God and His way of making us ONE with Him?