It's Later Than You Think

"It's later than you think Clint. You know what I mean don't you?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was a church leader named Joe in the congregation in East Texas that I served. Cancer had taken Joe's wife from him and I called to tell him that he and his family were in my prayers.

"Joe, I'm not sure what you mean," I answered.

"Well, Clint," Joe continued, "Before Pam died we always said we would get around to this and that sooner or later. It wasn't until she got sick that we realized that it was later than we thought. Don't waste time because it's later than you think."

What wisdom in the midst of grief that Joe shared with me. I look backward through time and see missed opportunities, wasted time, and a host of events that I didn't relish as I should with my wife and kiddos, because I forgot that it was later than I thought.

The beauty is that it is never too late to realize that while we've missed chances at living fully, we still have now. Time is unfair. We know everything about the past and can do nothing to change it. We know nothing about tomorrow, and we have so much we can choose to impact it.

So, when the tyranny of the urgent tries to squeeze out the truly important, remember it's later than you think.

I'm going to play a little catch with Connor because the day will come that it's too late. He'll need to be playing catch with his little ones, and changing my diapers.

The Blog

I was asked a while back to write a blog. I started several times, and if you'll notice this one was started some time ago. I hesitate, because, when you put your thoughts out there you risk.

Well, here goes the experiment. I hope that my thoughts can be encouraging, challenging, or helpful to others.

I remember the first English class I took in 1988 at Texas Tech University. We had to write and present a paper to the class. When finished the class was asked to give feedback. I still remember a fellow classmate who said, "I hated it." If I get the opportunity to meet him again, I'll listen attentively to his criticism. Then, I'll punch him in the throat.

If...

Our sermon series at Westmont for the past few, and next few weeks is titled, "IF..."

I believe that the word, "if," is the most powerful two-letter word in the English language. "If," can be empowering or paralyzing, positive or negative, regretful or hopeful. Consider:

"If I say only nice things to my wife today..."

"If I could get a job I don't hate..."

"If I hadn't yelled at the kids..."

"If I take a risk..."

"If only I hadn't done that..."

"If she would say sorry..."

"If...If...If..."

We're constantly dealing with if's. The beauty of the, "if's," of life is if we can recognize the questions over which we have control to make our lives and the lives around us more beautiful.

"If I'll just follow Jesus more closely each day, what a life I would lead..."