I got a call from my son yesterday who asked me if I wanted to come watch Brayden, my grandson, practice lacrosse.  First of all it was a surprise that he was playing lacrosse.  Secondly, I have watched Carter for years practice and play lacrosse, and now it was a second generation taking up the sport.  There wasn’t a question as to taking time off to go and see my grandson.

The practice was held at Laguna Elementary school where Carter, my youngest, started his school experience and where Victoria, my middle child, went as well.  Now my oldest grandson was going to Laguna and taking up the sport of lacrosse.  We got there and 5 boys had signed up for the practice.  No parents nor grandparents were in attendance except for Victoria, Brayden’s mother,  Carter, and myself.

I sat on the picnic bench and watched as Brayden began to learn how to scoop through the ball and get it into the lacrosse basket.  I watched him put the ball out in front of him and run with the stick seeking to secure the ball in his basket as he ran.  The coach had a game with 10 balls in the middle of the field while the boys stood by their respective cones some distance away.  The object was to run and scoop up as many balls as they could and take them to their respective cone as possible.  Brayden consistently got 2-3 balls each time.

I had no thoughts of anything else other than watching my Grandson.  No clients to think about.  No to do list.  No groceries to buy.  No supper to cook.  No one to call.  Nothing to clean up.  No bills to pay.  My mind was totally engrossed in watching my grandson take up a lacrosse stick for the first time and begin to master the skills of lacrosse.   I was living in the now of that experience.  Time for me stood still during that hour long practice.  There was nothing more pressing than spending time with my daughter, her sons and my son.

Mind you, I don’t always live this way.  My mind can be preoccupied with all the pressures of life and can drown out what is right now.  It takes real discipline to block out the noises of life and be in the moment of what ever you are focused on.  Yesterday from 3:30 to 4:30 it was Brayden.  I would like to be able to live my life in the moments of life.  Living each moment as if it were the last one that I had.

Samuel in the Old Testament had this perspective when he wrote II Samuel 14:14 and said, “For we shall surely die and are like water that is spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. . .”  As I am writing this Jlog (Jim’s log or blog), the time I have invested in writing these words down has evaporated and I can never reclaim this time.  This time is gone forever.  Samuel was encouraging the readers to make the most of the time you have here on this earth.  Living in the now.   Focusing on the important things of life.   Seizing the day, hour, minute.

This journey we are on has so many distractions that can take our eyes away from the important things of life.  Make it a habit to live in the now and not miss out on the first scoop of life (lacrosse scoop that is).