Life is precious and very short.

Recently, my family and I decided to take in the Mukilteo waterfront and enjoy the Puget Sound, while grabbing a bite to eat. There’s nothing like the sunny summer days in the Pacific Northwest.

I have three kids: Lydia, June, and Silas. Lydia is seven years old and wants to suck every ounce of joy life has to offer. She is bright, beautiful, and super friendly to anyone she meets. After FINALLY finding a parking spot, I paid for the four hour time slot and our adventure began. Dinner. Park. Scooters. Live Concerts. Shells. Skipping Rocks. Water. Waves. Sunset. It was the best evening together. At 2 hours in, Lydia finds me:

Lydia: "Dad, have we been for four hours yet? I am having so much fun."

Me: I pondered very carefully how I wanted to answer, as it had only been two hours. I could lie and say it is almost time to go or I could tell her we still have two more hours to play. I told the truth.

"Lydia, we still have two more hours to play. Go have fun."

June: "Dad, look at the shells I found. Come dig them up with me."

And there we were for hours upon hours eating ice cream and taking in the view of the evening.

The sun was setting. Mom was holding brother. Life was very full.

James, the brother of Jesus said it best:

Life is a vapor. A fog. A mist. Here and then gone.

What is your life? What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?

Well, for one, life is short and meant to be lived in joy, purpose, and goodness. Too many of us are stocking up riches, working overtime, hoping for that day when we will finally retire and relax. What if retirement does not happen? What if life goes in a direction we never saw happening?

What if? James says soak it up now because now is all you got.

James also said life is short and should

be lived in service to others. True Christ followers live in service to others. Whole-hearted devoted Christ followers look for ways for their faith to be combined with action. This is a big deal and so important to our walk with Christ. James said without works our faith is ultimately dead.

James also said to be careful about making grand plans and boasting about it without ever considering God in the equation. Too often, I am guilty of leaving God out of my daily life. I think a lot about God on Sunday's because that's the day I go to a church service and see others worshiping God too. It's easy to worship and make God a priority on Sundays, but not as easy in the everyday moments of the week. It is possible that I can believe in God, but live as if he does not exist.

So, to sum it all up.

Life is precious and very short.

Live each day to the fullest and learn from Lydia and her desire to take full advantage of the time we had been allotted at the beach.

Do that with the life God has given you!

Use your vacation and time off, NOW.

Include God in the everyday. The big and the small.

Make room for Him and the adventures that He has for you to love and serve others.