Today.

Allison and I got some time kid-free this last weekend, and decided to try going on a date again. We took Saturday night and went out to Abbotsford for dinner and a concert. It was a Brian Doersken concert - a great worship music leader and artist.

It was a great concert, musically speaking. The sound was great, our seats were great (aside from the guy sitting in front of us how received/made at least 8 calls during the concert). The only problem was that I wasn't feeling very connected. I had expected to be drawn into a meaningful time of worship - yet I felt like I was sitting in an island amongst a sea of hundreds of passionate worshippers. I thought about this through the first half of the concert, and came to a realization. Worship is not something that someone else can pull you into. It's something that you have to do for yourself. It must come from an act of the will within you. Worship is a part of a personal relationship, and in a personal relationship, there is no room for passengers.

There were two things that stood out for me during the concert. Brian has two children who have Fragile X Syndrome. He told us a frightening statistic - that 80% of marriages with disabled children end in divorce. I found that shocking, and quite frightening. My first thought is that there's no way I want to end up in that 80%, and I'll have to work hard at it. My second thought was that I'll be meeting and getting to know a fair number of people in this category over the years. I need to maintain my marriage in a way that is a hope and inspiration to others who may be struggling.

The second thing that stood out for me was the song Today. I was struck about how we make a commitment to live for Christ, and "accept him into our lives". We tend to think of this as a one time event - like getting married. The truth of the matter is that this commitment doesn't really mean much unless we live TODAY for him. Each and every day we have a choice to make. We can live for the vain pursuits of the world, or we can live for the things that are eternally important. I'm going to make a conscious effort to start each and every day for the next little while listening to this song - and reminding myself that yesterday and tomorrow aren't what is important. Today is where I am, and today is where I need to make my choices. Today.


(in other news, my heart is breaking today. I've just heard that a good friend has been diagnosed with cancer. pray that I can be of some comfort and help.)