It Only Takes a Moment

Near the end of the musical Hello Dolly, two of the main characters, Barnaby and the hat shop owner (whose name has escaped me for the moment), come to the recognition that they have fallen in love. And, as characters in musicals are prone to do, they burst into song realizing that in spite of the full day they have spent together with its adventures and escapades, it only took a moment for their love to be ignited.

Some moments are deeply meaningful, aren't they?

This week, I've corresponded with my friend Lupe, whose daughter, in only a few weeks, will be marrying and moving more than six hours away. As Lupe's emotions run the gamut between joyful excitement and maternal longing, I was blessed to learn that when she met the man's family, she found an immediate spiritual connection with some of the women. Lupe knew that the Holy Spirit was present in them, and that gave her a peace that surpasses all her understanding.

Lupe will be the first to tell you that change is not something she runs to embrace. But that encounter gave her an assurance for her daughter's sake that she didn't have before. And it only took a moment.

I hope and pray that the next days will be filled with joyful memories and intimate moments of conversation and laughter as her family (as its defined now) interacts together. After the wedding, things will never be the same again, so I hope that they will live and drink in every moment of now, to bring those memories with them into the new and thrilling future.

God, help me recognize those meaningful moments, and make them count for now and for eternity.