17 years!

Hard to believe it's been 17 years since the Bulls took it to the Blazers in the final game of the 1992 series. And once again, it falls on a Sunday. Somehow that makes it all even more powerful. So much more memorable. 17 years of being able to breathe the air of this world. 17 years to walk upright, to bend freely, to live this life. I've been so blessed.
Every year I'm amazed that all that has come and gone. It's amazing how a few seconds can totally change, or totally end life. I was so certain in those flailing moments that my life had run out. Far too early. 13. I was only 13. Same now as Haley and Tyler. So much still ahead, and yet I saw it closing in a moment. But it didn't end. Though I hope it did change. I hope I was able to grasp from those moments an imagine of the divine. I hope I was really able to find some appreciation for life that I'd been lacking up to that moment.
I'm still so far from perfect. I have still so much to learn. So very much to learn. But God, in His infinite grace and wisdom chose to spare my life that day. So now what can I do but celebrate life. What can I do but thank Him and do all I can to praise Him, to serve Him, to give Him my life.
The future spreads before me, vast and unknowable. My breathing presence on this planet could be long or short. Time here has ended for my Grandpa after 89 years. That seems both long and short as well. It all flies by in a moment. All I can do is make the most of the days given to me. They are all recorded in His book. I only hope that as the story of my life unfolds it is a story that is pleasing to Him, a story that really reflects His love in my life.
We are all small and fragile beings in this world. We were made to love, to praise. I hope that on this 17th anniversary I will continue to celebrate life, to accept the wonder of being granted more time to grow, to change, and to share God's love with others.