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Near death experiences change you. They put everything in life in perspective – at least for a season. Yesterday I had one of these near death experiences.

Over the past few days, Oklahoma has been hammered with bad weather, including snow, ice, and temperatures well below freezing. The 4-5 inch snow fall covered anything that was outside.

As Heather and I were driving home after church, we got on the Kilpatrick Turnpike. Being the responsible, CDL-trained driver that I am, I was driving under the speed limit and practicing the defensive driving skills that the wonderful Nashville Metro police officers taught me in their classes. I noticed the minivan in front of me had quite a lot of snow/ice on its roof. The minivan apparently had been outside during the ice/snow storm and the driver decided that his visibility out the front windshield was the most important thing. I even made a sarcastic comment to Heather about the 5 inches of ice/snow on top of the minivan.

No more than 30 seconds after my sarcastic comment, a huge chunk of ice/snow about the shape of a movie poster that was 5 inches thick flew off the minivan’s roof and was heading directly towards my car. Luckily, I avoided the ice projectile and any surrounding traffic.

This little episode really got me thinking about how short and precious life truly is. I was reminded of James 4:14 – “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

A former intern of mine who suddenly and tragically lost her father always reminds me that we are never guaranteed tomorrow. I encourage you to live as though every breath is a precious gift from God. Spend a little extra time with those you love. Mend the relationships that need to be mended. Tell people that you love them. Help out a stranger that is in need. Go skydiving, play a Gibson Les Paul, run a marathon, or do whatever you have always dreamed of doing.

Life is short. Life is precious. Live that way.