I’ve been thinking lately about life and service and love and funerals. How we let days, weeks, and years go by without telling people how much they have influenced us, how much they have taught us, how much they have changed us. How we really wait until it’s too late to tell them.

I’ve been thinking lately about funerals and how we hope the people who love us come and celebrate our lives and give each other comfort in their mourning. How we hope we will be remembered. And yet, the way I have chosen to live my life, I hope that my funeral is not about me – I hope it points to a God who made every breath possible.

I’ve been thinking lately about love and how much of it I have been blessed with. From friends, family, my children, my husband, my Savior – I have no lack of people whom I love and people who love me. They show up even when I don’t call. They invite me in to life with them – in the good and the bad times. They let me help them when I can and celebrate with them in the times of rejoicing. My community is vast and needed and built on the foundation of Christ’s love for us.

I’ve been thinking lately about service and how that’s the kind of life I want to live. The one that puts others first and actively seeks out the good in others. The one that gives generously of time and resources and always stops to talk with a student who is in need of an honest conversation. The one that puts down the devices and plays with my kids, and enjoys getting to see them learn to serve alongside me.

I’ve been thinking lately about life and how fragile it is. How short it really is. How it can change in an instant. How life isn’t predictable or fair, how the hardest things can be the things that make us who we are. How I don’t want to wait to say, “Thank you,” or tell people what they have meant to me.

Why do we wait until it’s too late to say the things we need to say? Why do we wait until we are beside a coffin to say, “Thank you,” or “I love you?” I don’t want to leave things unsaid or undone. I don’t want to miss opportunities to love my neighbor and encourage my students and colleagues. I want to live a life of humble service, pointing people to Jesus Christ through my words and actions, and I want to tell people how much they mean to me, how much they have challenged me, changed me, and influenced me. I want them to know. Love like Jesus, serve and love in humility, and always, always say it, even if you think they know it.