Talk about hitting home

So many things that happen just don't make sense. But sometimes, God uses seemingly senseless circumstances to wake us up. That happened to me today.

Our church has rented those giant blow-up bouncers for our picnic for 3 years. And we have always leased from the same company, or should I say, man. Nick was committed to making sure his customers felt like they were important. And most people who enjoyed Nick's services, never even met him. He would come before your event and set up the bouncer and then he would come back afterwards to take it down. Most of the people who would enjoy the bouncer would either not be there yet when he set it up or long gone when he took them down. But he always asked how your event went when he came to take it down. And he always wanted to know if there was something he could have done better to help your event be better. What a great guy. Nick passed away suddenly this past Friday and his widow tells us that with Nick's passing, so goes the company. So sudden, so unexpected, so shocking.

But what upsets me more is that I did not fully present Jesus to Nick. I enjoyed talking with him. He was younger than I am. I assumed we would have years to talk. I was wrong. And it reminded me how little we know about the people we come across. Do they really know Jesus? Will we have a second chance to share Jesus with them? Are we so busy building relationships that we are not making disciples? These are questions that are just flooding my mind as I come to grips with the passing of this genuinely nice guy.

Lord, help me to be ever aware that each breath is given as a gift from you, and help me not to waste even one of them. Amen.