The room is quiet.  She hears the clock – tick tock – counting down the seconds of her life.  So fast.  Too fast.  The seconds move along so quickly.  She hears her life passing by one tick, one tock at a time.

Time… what will she do with the time she’s given today, tomorrow, this week, this year, this decade, this lifetime?

The day ahead is full of seconds, her seconds, the seconds God has given her today.  What will she do with her seconds today?

She thinks about the looming tasks to complete, the errands to run, and the meals to prepare. 

Can she make those things count today?  She knows she can smile at a few strangers, pray for people in the stores she visits, or drop a few coins in the charity boxes. 

Can she find joy in the cooking and cleaning that’s required for her household?  She knows she is cooking dinner for friends she loves, cleaning keeps her home allergy-tolerable and she moves better through the house when the dust disappears.

The seconds of this day will also bring times of anticipated fun and laughter.  She can count those seconds valuable with ease.  The seconds she spends at her son’s school – being in the classrooms and the library, stepping into their world for an afternoon, and glimpsing life through their eyes for a time each week. 

A few seconds of her day will be full of kisses and hugs from her husband and sons, and those precious people will tell her they love her, maybe even more than once.

After school there is time to waste – together.  She doesn’t yet know what will fill those seconds.  She is excited about the possibilities for that time in her day.  Maybe she’ll leave that up to the boys, let them decide what will go into those seconds.

The seconds have tick-tocked enough to fill 30 minutes of her time as she sat and reflected on the sound of the clock.

Time must move ahead just as she must move on to the next task.

But there is one more important thing to do before she goes…

She gives the day to her Lord…

As the tick tock counts down the seconds of my life, make the seconds of my life count for you.  Amen.