"Thank you for another day"

Every time I write in my prayer journal, I start out my prayers with this phrase. I don't really remember when it started but it just seemed fitting I'd thank God for giving me another day. It became a habit and I don't think I realized how thankful I should be for another day.

Until today.

Today at 12:30 a.m. I was in a car wreck. We were hit by a semi. I thought without a doubt today I would meet my Heavenly Father, and that would be a wonderful day indeed, but I wasn't ready for today to be that day.

And today wasn't that day.

Miracles happen and I witnessed one first hand.

You see, the only thing I could think about after our wreck was if I would have died. What would I have left behind? What would my friends and family remember about me?

And then I thought about if my family members wouldn't have made it. How did I treat them? Did I show them God's love? Was I motivated in my relationships by only my selfish ambitions? Did I serve them?

So many questions surrounded me but one remains: What would Jesus say of my life if I had died?

And honestly I don't really want to know the answer.

I have wasted so much time and it took a near death experience for me to realize I was just going through the motions. I don't think I would've heard "well done good and faithful servant." It hurts but I think Jesus would be disappointed in how I wasted my time. I haven't been a faithful servant. I have been motivated by my own selfishness in this life and I've let it drive me through all of my years. I don't want to be a downer, but I need to be honest.

Think about if you were in that car.

I'm asking myself right now why am I writing this? Well, maybe to remind myself and everyone else to not waste the time they are given. It is precious. It can vanish in a split second. Nobody thought that an hour away from our home after a 24 hour car ride that we would be in the hospital all night and our car would be totaled. It just happens in a flash.

I want this day to be the beginning of a new and full life lived only for Christ. I don't want to waste another bit of it. I want to love my family. I want to cherish my friends. I want to be lead by the gospel. I want to surrender everything to Him. I want to trust Him. I want to sin no more.

It's not a thought we like to entertain, but maybe we should think about death more often. Not just how we will die, but more what will be the result of our lives? Who will know Christ because of our lives?

Live every day like it is your last. You just never know.

Strive to hear "well done my good and faithful servant."

To see the smile on His face when you are finally Home.

To know you have lived in His freedom and impacted others for the sake of the gospel.

It is only then our lives will always mean something.

It is then there is no fear in death.