Get Your Marbles Worth

Several years ago I heard a story in church about a young man who wanted to be ensure he lived life to the fullest. But he decided that he needed a visual reminder to help him achieve this goal. First, he found out what the average life expectancy of the American male was. He then subtracted his current age from the average life expectancy age. Let me stop and say I know there are no guarantees that any of us will live to a certain age, but bear with me for the sake argument. Once he knew how long he had to live (wink, wink), he then converted the number of years and months he had left into weeks. So now that he figured up how many weeks he had to live if he lived an average life, he went and bought marbles. He went and bought one marble for each week of his remaining life expectancy. He then put these marbles, thousands of them, in a huge glass container where he could see them all throughout the week. As each week/weekend would come to an end, he would remove one of the marbles and throw it away. While he was throwing the marble away he would be reminded that another week of his life had went by. At this point he would then ask himself if he had done all he could do to live his life to the fullest in the past week. Sometimes he would smile and easily throw the marble away knowing he had done all he could to get the most of life. Other times he would have a tear in his eye as he tossed the marble in trash knowing he hadn’t made the most of his past week.

I find what he did to be very interesting. Now I haven’t sat down and figured out my remaining life expectancy and went out and bought marbles….yet. Although I have threatened to do so on several occasions. Anyhow I like the concept of what this guy was trying to do. I like the idea of being reminded that I need to make the most of every opportunity presented to me. I like the thought of being reminded that life is a tremendous gift and we shouldn’t take it for granted. We’d all probably agree that life is too short and goes by incredibly fast. Particularly as we get older, gain responsibility and at some point in time, face our own mortality. Let me say this, so there is no mistake – I know there is life after this one and it’s actually a far better one. The idea of spending eternity with The One who created, loves and died for me is just too cool for words. But I’m not talking about that life; I’m talking about making the most of the time we have been given on this earth.

Often times on Sunday nights as we lie in bed discussing the past week and what we did over the weekend, Kathy will ask me “Did you get your marbles worth?” and I’ll know exactly what she is asking. Meaning, did you do all that you wanted/needed to ensure you got the most out of the past week/weekend. The majority of the time I can honestly say “yes”. Other times I’ll pout and tell her “I want my marble back” so I can do it again. She’ll kindly remind me that there are no do-overs and that I’ll have the chance to try to get it right this week. I don’t like when she tells me that because she’s right. And I hate it when she’s right because that means I was wrong – which is most of the time.

How each of us determines the answer to the question my wife asks will be different. I know what it takes for me to answer this question. As I write this post, I’m finishing my 6th day of a 10 day road trip for work. Since I haven’t been with my family this past week, the question is a lot tougher to answer. The question I have for you, is the same one my wife ask me – “Did you get your marbles worth?” - I hope you can determine the answer to this question. I hope that you get your marbles worth this week and every week from now on. I hope that there are a lot of marbles left in your jar. Shoot, I hope there are a lot marbles left in my jar! That’s really the issue isn’t it? We really don’t know how many marbles are left in our jar do we? Which is why we should make each and every one of them count. Get Your Marbles Worth.