Time and Time Again

     Time.  Something we all have, in different portions, good and bad.  Have you ever heard someone say "I just wish this day would be over"?  Especially on a work day, that seems to be the desire of most.  Recently I've begun to think though, about the people wanting just one more minute. 
     When I was a little girl, I was very shy.  I was the oldest child and getting out of the car to go to school each morning was just too much for me to handle.  I would be away from my family all day.  They would be together without me.  "Just one more minute momma.  Just one more minute" I would beg as my mom had to push me out of the car so she could take my younger siblings home.  And I just knew that one more minute would be life changing for me. 
     Ever thought that while you are wishing your day was done, there's a 70 something year old man sitting at the bedside of his wife of 50 years as she struggles for each breath?  While you watch the clock waiting for 5 so you can clock out and go home, he's holding her frail hand and looking at the face of the love of his live.  Thru his tears he sees the beautiful young woman he married all those years ago.  To him it was only yesterday.  Just one more minute.  That's all he wants.  Just one more minute to hold her, talk with her, laugh with her. 
     Remember when you were a little kid and something exciting had happened?  You just couldn't wait for daddy to get home.  As his pick up truck pulled into the driveway, you could hardly contain your excitement!  Daddy's home!  Daddy's home!  You ran to him, hugging his legs so that he couldn't even walk.  Your long wait was finally over.  You had your daddy's full attention and all was right with the world.  That one moment made your long wait just go away.
     Time.  We use it.  We abuse it.  We each have our allotted amount and no one knows how much that is.  I recently read a blog by Kevin A. Thompson where he said "What minor detail of today might be used years from now as God weaves our lives into His story?" That sentence alone brought up so many thoughts for me.  Thoughts of days that could have gone completely different had I reacted differently at one particular moment.  Thoughts of times I obeyed our Father and He used that to bless someone.
     Because of the timing of that blog, my thoughts also went back to an event 75 years ago.  Every year on January 22nd I think of a person I never met.  Growing up I heard about him all the time.  His name was Raymond Eudell Pruitt.  My maternal grandparents' first child.  He was never called by his first name or middle name.  It was always "Raymond Eudell".  Raymond Eudell was born on January 22, 1939.  Growing up all I ever knew was that he was a 'blue baby'.  He never took a breath.  Raymond Eudell was born at home, which was the norm back then.  And while I had heard about him my whole life and had put flowers on his tiny grave every Decoration Day, I didn't know the whole story until a few years ago. 
     After my grandfather became ill and had to go into a nursing home, I called my grandmother pretty much every Sunday afternoon.  We both loved our visits.  She would tell me about moments from her life.  Good and bad.  Difficult and triumphant.  And we talked about Raymond Eudell.  She told me how he was delivered.  She told me how she reached for him but her aunt who delivered him took him away.  She guessed her aunt thought she was waiving for her to take the baby away.  She never got to hold him.  My heart ached for her every time we talked about him.  After over 70 years her arms still ached for him. 
     While Raymond Eudell never lived outside the womb, his life, his birth, his moment has always been a part of my life.  It has given me a perspective that I would have never had otherwise.  His little life has been used by God to shape me.  When my grandmother was struggling to breath as she prepared to pass from this life into the next almost 4 years ago, one of the things I told her was that she was going to get to hold Raymond Eudell soon.  The pain I was feeling at the thought of her leaving was overwhelming.  But the joy in my heart for her as I thought of the moment she would get to hold her precious baby for the first time was even more overwhelming. 
     Never underestimate that one moment.  Leave each moment in God's hands.  He has a plan far above anything we could ever imagine.  And although sometimes we go through fire and those moments seem like years of pain, still leave it in God's hands.  He does work ALL things together for good to those who love Him.......