Living deliberately

About 3 months or so ago I have a woman who is like a daughter to me share so tragic news. It seems her mother had been given about 2 months to live. This is especially tragic because the two of them had just finally repaired their relationship after many years. I told my friend that I would pray for her mother and that with God it's never over until he says it is. I was discussing this with my wife and she said how hard that is, that that was about the same time that her late husband was given when he was first diagnosed. He ended up living 15 months. I said that that amount of time sounds so short. She said, "Yes it is, but you can make a lot of memories in 2 months".
Those words hit me like a lightning bolt. I began to dwell on them for a while. I have gone whole years without making any significant memories that stood out to me. I began to ask myself, why should a bad health report make a difference in making memories? I began to think about it. It's because when we think we don't have much time, we start living life with intent. We begin to live deliberately, knowing time is short.
So, why don't I do that now? Because I am fooled into thinking I have time. Time to do it later. Time to do it tomorrow. Time to do it next week. Time to see my son's game the next time. Time to see my daughter's play next week, or month, or year. How many things have I missed out on because I thought I had time to do something and then circumstances changed and I couldn't do it at all? How many people have I hurt, let down, alienated? In the song Time off of Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd sang:

And then one day you find,
Ten years have got behind you,
No one told you when to run,
You missed the starting gun.

God is challenging me to live deliberately. To live with intent. To stop living like I have time that I don't know that I have. To stop wasting the most precious commodity that we have; time. To start sharing God's love and truth with people like I may never see them again. To start taking chances. To start loving my God in new ways, loving my wife in new ways, loving my kids in new ways. To live the same way that I talk. To live likes there's no tomorrow.
I don't have a lot of regrets, because what I have been through God has used to shape me closer to who he wants me to be. But one regret I do have, I have wasted a lot of time, both my own, other peoples, and God's. When I pass on, the only thing that goes with me is the people I bring with me through sharing God's love and my memories. In order to make a difference I have to live deliberately, with intent.
My friends mother passed. We talked on the phone. We laughed, we cried. They made memories.