I just watched 50 First Dates on the airplane today and was inspired! I know it came out awhile ago (2004), but I’m not always the most current on new movies, and I sure did appreciate the airplane edited version.
If you haven’t seen it, the basic concept is that this girl Lucy (played by Drew Barrymore) was in a car accident and lost her ability to turn short term memory into long term, so each day was a completely new day, but she only remembered her life before the accident. So this guy Henry (Adam Sandler) wins the affections of Lucy everyday over and over again. There are a few fun plot twists and a great ending, but what struck me is how much we can take each other for granted. We often think of family as people who will always be there, but that is not necessarily true. Each day, each experience we have with those we love should be cherished like it was the first time or the last time. It stands to reason that if I love my wife in this way, we will never drift apart; if I relate to my children like this, they would always be confident that their dad wants to know their heart and help guide them through life.
These thoughts all come together as today we join with family to be together and grieve over the loss of and celebrate the life lived by my Granny Early. We don’t ever know when our last time to see and experience life with our loved ones will be. There are no guarantees, and the only surety that we have is right now and our eternity after this life in the body. Paul said, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” each moment for us on this earth is not only a moment to invest in those around us, but also a moment to live life IN CHRIST to the fullest. So Wednesday, our family suffered a great loss, but my Granny Early experienced the greatest gain anyone could hope to experience…that through faith she entered into the eternal presence of her Creator and Savior Jesus Christ.
So live today as it is your first and last day with those around you, cherishing great relationships and family history, but taking nothing for granted.
(ps. remember that this is not a movie endorsement, and I watched an edited for airplane version, so I don’t know what I “missed”.)
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