Fragile

I just got word that I friend of mine was killed in a car accident in the middle of a snowstorm. She was driving from Woodland Park, CO, to Steamboat Springs, CO after visiting her inlaws. She was killed instantly. Her husband, Aaron was badly hurt and rushed to the hospital in Denver. Her baby son, Isaac was unhurt. She was in her twenties.

Now Isaac doesn't have a mommy anymore. Aaron doesn't have his wife. I can't begin to understand what lies ahead for them.

I had known Jennifer since the mid-eighties, when she was a young girl. I remember when I was in college, I led a "Biblelympics" VBS for my church, and she was one of the top bible memory champions. What I remember most, though, was her smile. She sat in the front every day and had an incredible smile. As she grew up, she never stopped smiling. She was an amazing, beautiful, intelligent girl, who loved the Lord, and now she's gone. She's smiling at Jesus right now.

As a father of four young boys, one also named Isaac, I can't help but be struck by this event. Jennifer was in a car in bad weather - just as I have been countless times - in fact, I was driving in the same storm system this weekend. Only in Texas the storm was rain, and in Colorado it was snow. She was visiting family - anxious to get home, and in an instant, it was all over. We aren't promised tomorrow. We can go at any time. I could be a single father tomorrow. Or, this could be my last day on earth. If it were, what would my children do? What legacy would I have left? How would they remember me? Would they remember that I loved them more than anything? Or would they remember that I was a harsh disciplinarian? Of course they need discipline, but they should never have a doubt about my love for them. What about my life's work? Would my life have made a difference to anyone?

I am reminded of a song my dad wrote over 25 years ago when a young father was killed in a farming accident in Hale Center, TX, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters. I'm including the lyrics below:

Live the Day - by Wesley Putnam

I want to live this day as though
it were the last day I might live,
As though tomorrow were the day my king returns.
I want to give each gift as though
it were the last gift I might give.
I want each moment to overflow with love.

I can't know what tomorrow holds for me;
there's so much uncertainty.
But I can live today and savor its taste,
and be the man God meant for me to be.

I want to live this day as though
it were the last day I might live,
As though tomorrow were the day my king returns.
I want to give each gift as though
it were the last gift I might give.
I want each moment to overflow with love.

Sometimes I hurry through my day and I can't see
the ones who mean the most to me.
But on this day I'll dare to show them that I care.
And I'll be the man God meant for me to be.

I want to live this day as though
it were the last day I might live,
As though tomorrow were the day my king returns.
I want to give each gift as though
it were the last gift I might give.
I want each moment to overflow with love. With love.