Live for Today

Greetings,


I want to take a tangent from Galena for just one post (it's alright I promise to be back there tomorrow!).  I have written many times that following my surgeries I struggled with God's garce.  I had a hard time trying to get back to Him for the very simple fact that I thought that I had received a bum deal!  I worked hard for Him and this is how He repays me!  I know that I have also told you that as I get further and further away from my surgeries I have come to realize that my life is a gift.  I know that I could have easily not gotten up from those operating tables.

What I want to share with you this morning is something that I have found on my journey home.  I am the type of person that feels that words mean something.  Being a pastor I know that words can move people to great heights emotionally.  I have that scripture does that to me as well.  One of the other types of words that move and encourage me are lyrics.  That's right, music moves me.  I know that some of you are of the mindset that some music is of the devil!  I will agree that some music sounds like hell but may not truly be from hell!  I believe that it is not the music that gives glory to God necessarily, although it can.  I believe that the essence of music that moves people emotionally are the words.  Understand I am not saying that Beethoven or Bach is uncapable of inspiring.  I am just saying that in my life words , or lyrics, move me.

During my journey I have been encouraged by songs.  One song in particular is Tim McGraw's song "Live Like You Were Dying" and Nickelback's song "If Today Were Your Last Day".  The lyrics of these songs encourage me to look upon today as a gift, to aproach each day as if it were your last day.  I think we rarely do that.  Although, on some occasions we do just that.  I can remember the day before my first brain surgery we wen to spen the night in Pueblo, CO.  It was ther that I would go to Parkview hopsital and find out if the cyst in my head was a cancerous tumor or not.  I had bee n told that were many dangers to brain surgery.  As a side note I never really payed any attention to the saying that we use when something isn't very difficult.  You know the saying that goes, "It's not brain surgery".  Well, it was during this day before surgery that I truly felt as if this might be my last day.  I had my family around me and I had just said goodbye to my sister and I remember thinking that I might not see her, in this lifteime, again.  My mother and father had come all the way from Indiana to be with me and I remember thinking how hard it must of been thinking, that perhaps they were driving all those miles just to say goodbye to me one last time.  But God is good, and of course simply by reading my words today, you know that was not the case!

It didn't get any easier on the day of my second surgery.  Even though we knew the routine something happened that not had happened during the first surgery.  At the first surgery I had told Christine that I was not going to be able to be in the waiting room to encourage people and to keep their faith in God strong and so I told her that she was the one who had to do that.  Christine is an incredibly strong women and I could write blogs about her until Jesus comes and I would not even scratch the surface of the depth of my love for her.  However, I remember the few moments before I went back to the operating room for my second surgery.

Christine was in the room with me and it was just her and I.  I can remember that we really didn't say much to each other I simply remember her eys.  For those of you who have never met my wife you have missed one of God's great creations.  Don't get me wrong she is just as human as you and I but, I believe, that God put just a little bit more into her.  I can remebr us just looking at each other for the moment before I left for surgery.  Without any words we shared our love for each other and I felt that no matter what happened from that moment on we had told each other any and everything we had wanted to say.  After surviving three brain surgeries the one thing that I never take for granted is tomorrow and more than that my wivfe's eyes.  With a simple look she conveyed to me her love and the love that we share.

I know that I seem to write a lot about not taking tomorrow for granted  I also know I fill my blogs with the thought of living for today.  Yet, I have rarely shared the idea of letting loved ones know what you feel.  One of my father's favorite songs is Garth Brook's "If Tomorrow Never Comes".  I can remember him saying that it was the song he wanted played at his funeral.  All of these songs and many other conveys one simple truth.  Live for today, carpe diem, seize the day!

So, as I take a small detour from my conversion story to share with you these thoughts I, once again, challenge you to live for today.  Tell those who are close to you that you love them and live like you are dying because, in reality, we are.

So to my mother and father I say that I am what I am today because of you.  You have modeled love and commitment and I am proud to say that I am a Hutchison.  To my sister and brother, words cannot express the love that I feel for both of you.  We are Jim and Dixie's kids and I would never have traded that for anyhting on this earth.  To my children, Stephanie and Jacob,  I see all of our family in both of you, you have incredibly loving hearts and I am so proud to be your father.  And to Christine, well, those words are between her and me.  We are a bond that God has formed that will never be broken.  To all of my family, I have been humbled in your presence and have rejoiced in our love

Now, before this blog begins to sound creepy as if I was preparing to die tomorrow let me say this, I fully expect to be back at this computer keyboard tomorrow spewing out words of healing for my spirit.  However, if I am not, or, God forbid, you are not then I have shared with you my love.

I want  to leave you with the lyrics to the songs I hae shared with you.  Perhaps they can encourage you today.  Perhaps in the hustle and bustle of this busy holiday season you can find hope in the words.  So, until my next entry, my love to all!

Blessings,


Derek

"Live Like You Were Dyin"
Tim McGraw

He said: "I was in my early forties,

"With a lot of life before me,

"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.

"I spent most of the next days,

"Looking at the x-rays,

"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."

I asked him when it sank in,

That this might really be the real end?

How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?

Man whatcha do?

An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,

"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.

"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,

"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,

"To live like you were dyin'."

He said "I was finally the husband,

"That most the time I wasn’t.

"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.

"And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,

"Wasn’t such an imposition,

"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.

"Well, I finally read the Good Book,

"And I took a good long hard look,

"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,

"And then:

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,

"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.

"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,

"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,

"To live like you were dyin'."

Like tomorrow was a gift,

And you got eternity,

To think about what you’d do with it.

An' what did you do with it?

An' what can I do with it?

An' what would I do with it?

"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,

"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.

"And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,

"And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."

An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,

"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."

"If Today Were Your Last Day"

Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice

He said each day's a gift and not a given right

Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind

And try to take the path less traveled by

That first step you take is the longest stride

If Today Was Your Last Day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday'

Would you live each moment like your last'

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have'

If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life

What's worth the prize is always worth the fight

Every second counts 'cause there's no second try

So live like you'll never live it twice

Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday'

Would you live each moment like your last'

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have'

Would you call old friends you never see'

Reminisce of memories

Would you forgive your enemies'

Would you find that one you're dreamin' of'

[ If Today Was Your Last Day lyrics from

http://www.lyricsyoulove.com/n/nickelback/if_today_was_your_last_day/ ]

Swear up and down to God above

That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day

If today was your last day

Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart'

You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars

Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes

'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life

Let nothin' stand in your way

Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday'

Would you live each moment like your last'

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have'

Would you call old friends you never see'

Reminisce of memories

Would you forgive your enemies'

Would you find that one you're dreamin' of'

Swear up and down to God above

That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day

"If Tomorrow Never Comes"

Garth Brooks

Sometimes late at night

I lie awake and watch her sleeping

She's lost in peaceful dreams

So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark

And the thought crosses my mind

If I never wake up in the morning

Would she ever doubt the way I feel

About her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes

Will she know how much I loved her

Did I try in every way

To show her every day

That she's my only one

If my time on earth were through

And she must face the world without me

Is the love I gave her in the past

Gonna be enough to last

If tomorrow never comes

'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life

Who never knew how much I loved them

Now I live with the regret

That my true feelings for them never were revealed

So I made a promise to myself

To say each day how much she means to me

And avoid that circumstance

Where there's no second chance

To tell her how I feel

If tomorrow never comes

Will she know how much I loved her

Did I try in every way

To show her every day

That she's my only one

If my time on earth were through

And she must face the world without me

Is the love I gave her in the past

Gonna be enough to last

If tomorrow never comes

So tell that someone that you love

Just what you're thinking of

If tomorrow never comes