Pay Day...

I remember when I was growing up we went to Pizza Hut once a month after payday. I have fallen into a similar tradition. I like to either go to PA BBQ and get a pulled pork sandwich or order an Italian Hoagie from the pizza shop a block away on payday.

Last night I pulled out the menu from the pizza shop to see if there was anything I wanted instead of a hoagie. The fact that I even looked was humorous because I love their hoagies... of course I wasn't getting anything else.

This pizza shop is a great, little, small-town treasure. The guy that owns the shop is wonderful, friendly, and hard working. He gets his buns for the hoagies fresh daily and you can tell he is really good to his employees. It is a friendly place to visit.

Well last night I dialed the number and the pizza shop was closed indefinitely due to an "unexpected death." I went to the local grocery store and asked if they knew anything about what happened. Evidently the owner died in his sleep and his wife found him. He wasn't that old. Maybe mid-late sixties. The message said that they wanted to re-open the pizza shop, but they weren't sure what they were going to do because this was so sudden. They just didn't see this coming. I found myself walking around the grocery store saying over and over, "This is so sad, this is so sad."

I love that little pizza shop. I have taken my family there, friends there. It had something special and I wanted to share it with others. But did I ever stop and share what I have that is special with them? Did I ever tell them about Jesus? I talked to that nice guy many times. Did I ever share the hope I have in Jesus with him? Sadly... no. And now he has met the Lord face to face. Did he hear "Well done, good and faithful servant... enter into the joy of the Lord?"

This life is short. Tomorrow isn't promised. We might think we have our whole lives to think about God or to live a different life... a life that makes a difference for eternity. But we don't have as much time as we think. Even if we live until we are 100, if we spend our entire life living for ourselves and what we want, by the time we get older, we won't know any other way to live.

Why do many people start to live a different life if they know they only have a year to live? We should live every day as if it were our last.

I used to joke around a lot a tease people. I would make a joke at their expense, but hey it was funny... they knew I was only joking... I have really tried to make a conscious effort to say something nice instead of pulling someone down. I have tried to encourage people more and tell them what I appreciate about them more. I try to think that they might be having a bad day and this might be the only nice thing that has been said to them all day. I try to remember that tomorrow isn't promised and I might not get to talk to them again. I want to treat every conversation as if it is my last.

I need to do this more, so much more. I need to smile at the lady at Wal-Mart that is having a bad day and tell her I will pray for her. I need to invite her to church.

It is easy to get caught up in day-to-day life and live in our own little worlds… but I encourage you to join me and take a minute to reach out to others, because we never know what tomorrow holds.