Several years back, my Dad told me that the years seemed to fly by and that the older you get the quicker they go. Today, I agree with him. I understand why he said that to me. When you are younger you think you will aways have time. Time to get things done, time to make it right, time to do it over, time, time, time. But it is not so. In each of our lives, a meter runs and there is a limit to the number of our days.

Kids growing up is one of the indicators that the meter is running. You start with an attraction, then comes a date, then a courtship, then a marriage, then a pregnancy, then a birth, then a baby, a toddler, a little boy or girl, a teen-ager, a young adult, then another marriage, a grand-child, and then old age and a departure from life. Suddenly it is all over and the world no longer knows your name. Your possessions and the things so dear to you are distributed to others and you become an occasional memory from the past.

If I sound somber, it is because this is true. It is the way life is. You get a window or a season to make your mark upon the world and then you fade away and you are no more. And there is a limit to what man can and cannot do.

Alexander the Great began as a young man of seventeen years and by the time he was thirty, he had seen and conquered more of the known world than any other man prior to his time. Dying at age thirty-four, he left everything here. He made a great mark upon the world, but he still died and faded away. His kingdom was parceled up among his generals and the world moved on.

I think the best way to understand life is to think of a pool of water and a pebble. You are cast into life as a pebble into the pool and you make a splash. The ripples go out in ever-widening circles, but as they go they lose their height and the magnitude of their influence. Eventually the water swallows up all evidence of the pebbles entrance into the water and the pool is quiet again.

You get one shot in the pool. You get to make one splash. Then you fade away.

So I get up every day and I try to appreciate the day for what it is. I try to think of my children and how fortunate I am to have them and to have experienced growing up with them. I ask God to protect and keep them and to give them hearts to appreciate the time they have. The Bible states that, "Today, this is the day of salvation. If you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart against it..." I do not want to have a heart hardened to the call and the voice of God as He daily extends grace and mercy towards me and my family.

If you look at the pictures above you will see some moments in the lives of my children as they were growing up. In these moments there is no meanness, no anxiety, no hardness. Instead there is joy, happiness, discovery and hope.

Jesus said to let the little children come to Him. He said that unless we become as a little child we would not see the kingdom of heaven. I want to be a little child in Jesus' kingdom. I hope that today, you can also hear His call.