No man knows the number of his days

Many who know me know that I have been dealing with several important life-direction choices in recents months and weeks.  For the most part, they've gone down in flames.  My attempt to join the Army as a chaplain was shot down (no pun intended) by a single doctor's opinion about the health of my knees (and yes, I'm still running and playing ball each week).  A couple of other opportunities have recently come to my attention, but there have been snags that may prevent them from working either.  In the midst of my own angst, and my genuine concern for the well being of my wife, I got a strange phone call this past week from my best friend.
I've received hundreds of call from him over the years, we've played sports together and hung out for almost thirty years, but this call was different.  The voice on the other end of the line was strained and sounded weaker somehow.  It didn't take long before he told me that he was in the hospital.  Having played basketball together six days prior I at first thought it was a joke; but it wasn't.  Long story short, my friend had been rushed to the hospital for an emergency situation that while treatable, could have been life threatening if no dealt with quickly.  We're both 36, our birthdays are a month apart; that's a wake-up call.  While I was worried about the direction of my career, my finances, and my wife (all legit things), my best friend was suddenly facing a very serious medical situation.  In the long-run, he'll be fine and this will be a blip on the radar, but it is also a reminder that none of us know the day or hour appointed for us by the Lord.  We don't know how long we have on this Earth to make a difference, how much time we'll have with our loved ones, or how many 2nd and 3rd chances we'll get to do the right thing.  Let's not waste any more of that time, it's too precious.
Get better soon, those 18 year old kids still need to be taught some lessons on the court.

A seed planted years ago...

When I was in college I spent some time working with three siblings whose family situation brought them to the attention of the community mental health organization. I was given the chance to work with these kids and try to be a type of big brother for them for about a year. When it was over I lost track of them...just recently I received a letter from the youngest of these three who had experienced an even more difficult childhood after I finished working with them. Long story short, this young many is about two years into a prison term at the prison about six miles from my home. It has been about 13 years since I had heard from any of them, but this young many remembered me and wanted to see if I could help him with the upcoming transition to the life he hopes to lead after his release. I don't think that the work that I did was all that special; I was just trying to be one small influence for good in the lives of these kids who sadly had none. And yet, the Lord planted a seed in this young man's heart. Now an opportunity for the both of us appears. I have the chance to pick up where I left off and once again try to be a good influence in this man's (now, he was a kid before) life. As a pastor I can also get in to visit him as well, something I hope to do soon.
How do we know what the Lord has in store for us? How do we know what will happen to the seeds that we scatter? The answer is that we don't know. The only thing for certain is that if we don't take the chance and sow some seed, nothing will grow. If we do step out of our comfort zone; take some chances, and see what the Lord will do, amazing things can happen. Remember, God wants you to plant some seeds, he's the master farmer, he'll make them grow.