Opportunities

My youngest daughter Emme took two great naps yesterday, both lasting 3 hours each. And when it was time for bed, it wasn't hard to get her down. With a night of great sleep ahead of me, I was in bed before 11:00. Then she awoke.

It was after midnight and she was up, hollering at us from down the hall as if to say, "Come get me! I'm awake!" So I tried to give her some juice which she promptly pushed away, got her resettled, and shuffled back down the hall to resume my sleep. But she wasn't done. Next, it was Kellie's turn and this time Emme got a diaper change to go along with a little TLC from mom. But she still wasn't done. At 12:45 I found myself in the playroom with Emme, a little girl that simply didn't know what she wanted this late at night. It wasn't until 1:30 that I was able to get her resettled and then Kellie had one last turn, finally winning the battle long after 2 a.m.

As I looked at my bleary-eyed little girl this morning I told her that one day she would want to sleep, not avoid it. Her response was to crawl all over me and drink a little bit of milk. Kellie and I found ourselves having a similar conversation yesterday about our other kids, but that time it was about their energy level and what we would do as adults with all that energy. We ruminated about how kids just don't seem to understand the value of a high energy level and that if they did, they would take advantage of the opportunities they were presented with.

It then hit us that kids don't think that way. Adults do. It's easy for me to look back over my life and imagine how differently I would have done things if I knew then what I know now. Well, I didn't know then what I know now and I also don't have the kind of physical energy now that I did then, but that doesn't give me an excuse to not strive for my future.

You see, one day I'll be much older and I may look back on these years and wonder what I could have done if I had just known then what I know now. This cycle of daydream living never changes. So what I need to do now is not lament over lost opportunities from my past but instead I want to pray about how God wants to carve out my future.

I have no idea what tomorrow holds but I do know that everyday holds new opportunities. God has gifted all of us with a unique gift set to be used for His ministry and His glory. I don't want to miss out on an incredible future because I can't seem to get over the opportunities that have already passed me by.