Going Too Fast...

We found a treasure today.

For some time, my wife Kristi and I have been aware, off and on, that we weren't sure where we had put the DVD Kristi made for our older son Benjamin's first birthday party, which has been over two years (and a move) ago now. The DVD is a compilation of photos from Benjamin's first year, set to music, with messages wishing him a happy birthday. As far as treasures go, this DVD is, well, beyond priceless.

When our younger son Jonathan's first birthday rolled around earlier this year, Kristi made a similar DVD for him, and we realized we didn't know where Benjamin's DVD was. In the months since, this missing DVD has been an occasional itch we can't scratch. We felt sure it was somewhere, that we wouldn't have thrown it away, that it would turn up sometime, but we were starting to wonder...

Out of nowhere today, Kristi found the missing DVD, at least one copy of it, at the bottom of a random box from our move a year ago. Needless to say, we dropped everything and watched it.

Let's just say dry eyes were not a problem.

We just couldn't believe what we were seeing, how long ago those moments seemed, yet how fast they all went by. My eyes moved back and forth from the baby on the screen to the three-year old sitting with me, and I just had to shake my head.

David Halberstam wrote a book called Playing for Keeps, centered mainly on the life and career of Michael Jordan, but also exploring the general world of professional basketball during Jordan's career. In one passage in particular, Mr. Halberstam explains that many players desire the security of a long-term contract with guaranteed money, because they realize how very temporary their playing days are. The phrase used to describe the length of the average player's career is a haunting one: "terrifyingly short".

Terrifyingly short.

A professional athlete's career, or the time from my son's first birthday to now, are not the only things that are terrifyingly short.

"What is your life? It is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." -- James 4:14

Why be surprised at how fast it seems to be going?

Why keep assuming we have next year?

Why keep assuming we have tomorrow?