Last night, I watched the beautiful colors fill the sky as the sun set behind the trees. The brilliant display was only accentuated by the play of lights and shadows.

And then in a few moments?

In just a few moments it was over and the light faded from the sky .. and the moment of beauty was over.

There are days where time speeds by in much the same way.. and you wonder where the time went. Hours that passed in a moment.

And then there are moments that last hours..

I have experienced a lot of moments in my lifetime. Some great moments and some.. well? Some not so great moments.

The moments after the doctor confirmed my son had autism?

That moment felt like it lasted an hour. As your mind categorized every thing that diagnosis would change for his life .. and ours…

The moments after the doctor told me my son needed a screw to hold his hip together..? Felt like hours…

But mostly I remember the happy moments.. like watching my son dancing in the waters of Lake Michigan as the sun set behind him.. watching my daughter perform in any one of her performances, watching my kids laugh, laughing with my nieces and nephews, watching a shy student shine on stage, early morning talks with any of my exchange daughters..

So many moments that could fill a lifetime..

.. and then I realized …

Life is like that sunset…

Sometimes the most beautiful moments are the shortest.. and if we don’t enjoy the beauty while it’s there? If we don’t keep our eyes glued to the colors playing amongst the shadows? If we don’t stay IN THAT MOMENT.. we will miss it…

… and life is already too short..

We blink and our kids grow up too fast.. We blink and months pass by..

We blink and we miss so much.

So.. we get to choose…

Do we turn our moments into lifetimes?

Or turn our lifetime into mere moments?

It humbles me.

For me? I will continue to live in each moment .. waiting to see the beauty life has for me.. waiting to make memories in each of those moments..