Urgency

I would like to sit here and write about how my son just tossed his blankie overboard and dropped a bomb in his pants all after I laid him down for his nap (does a worse nap time combo of events exist?), because that stuff is easy and fun and lighthearted.  But today isn't easy and fun and lighthearted because across the ocean this afternoon, hearts and people are broken.

My heart is so heavy after watching some of the tsunami and earthquake footage from Japan.  It is absolutely heartbreaking.  It is one of those things that glues me to the television with my jaw dropped in horror and my eyes wide with terror because it is such a horrifyingly unbelievable reality.

Seeing such a tragedy unfold puts things in perspective.  Tragedies like this shatter my heart for the victims and their families, and cause me to reflect.  Such a devastating event pulls me out of the fog and makes me take a look around and think about what really matters.  It makes me want to get my stuff together and start living like a tsunami could rip through the backyard at any moment.  It forces me to think about why I'm here and what I'm suppose to be doing while I'm here and whether or not I'm doing it because at any second, the tide could come in, and it could all be over.

Tragedies of this magnitude make me inhale sharply and stare in horror and ache for the victims and then when I finally turn off the TV and my mind and heart are still reeling, I take a deep breath and look at the big picture.  I see the hurting and brokenness not just halfway across the world in the aftermath of a catastrophic natural disaster, but I see the hurt right next door and across the street and in people all around me.  Then I think about God's story and the role we all play in it, and it makes me ask myself, "what am I doing to contribute while I'm here?"  Because we don't get to be here forever, and this isn't a dress rehearsal- this is the real deal.  He's got a plan, we've got a purpose, and we don't just get to sit around and start whenever we feel like it, because the tide could be coming in.

I'm feeling an urgency today.  An urgency that I should be feeling every day, but one that gets dulled by diapers and busyness and dinners and all other manner of distractions. It's an urgency to live hard.  To live like there's no tomorrow.  To love extravagantly and to give until it hurts and to share the truth that Jesus loved extravagantly and gave His very life so that we might live.  God sacrificed His only Son so that we would have hope beyond tomorrow.  So that, for those who choose to receive His gift of grace, when the tide comes in and its all over, its not all over. 

What a glorious gift.

As I watch the devastating footage on CNN's website, I find myself full of gratitude for God's love and grace and so thankful that I am not entirely helpless sitting here in my little house across the world, but that I can reach out through prayer and ask the God of mercy and peace and healing to touch the hearts of the desperate and hurting on the other side of the globe today. 

Praying for the people touched by the tsunami and earthquakes in Japan, and praying we feel an urgency- today and every day.