The past week with a new puppy has been hilarious. Every morning, Frank, comes outside with me to the front porch and runs back and forth. When he goes one way, he might have a plastic spoon in his mouth, when he comes back, he has exchanged the spoon for a piece of cardboard. This back and forth goes on for a couple of hours. In between toting random objects, he stops and barks at the cat, who in turn hisses, growls, and swats. Often, he backs up too close to the edge and falls right off the porch. He and our yellow dog frisk, play, and dig. Watching him is so entertaining.

As he is running back and forth this morning, I can’t help but replay our pastor’s sermon yesterday. Essentially, he challenged us to think about what we would do differently if we only had 24 hours to live. What changes would we make? Who would we talk to? What relationships would we make right? As I have been pondering this idea and these questions, I have decided I want to live like Frank.

See, Frank loves everything and everybody. All the stuff in his world is interesting and everybody he meets is a new friend. He doesn’t have favorites. He’s not stuck on playing with one toy. He sees the world around him and it’s all so exciting. Fresh. New. And fun. Frank is living his best life.

We don’t live like that most of the time. Maybe we have moments of excitement and adventure or we have days when we step out and intentionally have fun or spend time with the ones we love. But overall, many of us are more like my cat; set in our ways and stuck in the same, safe routines. And when those “Franks” come around, we hiss and swat because change is not what we want.

If I had 24 hours to live, I would want to have fun, enjoy the people I’m around, and make unforgettable memories with the ones I love. I would want to share my faith, my hope, and my reason for living. I would want to help folks, reach others, and make a difference.

I would want to run back and forth in as many directions as I could and connect with everyone around, just like Frank does each morning. So, I ask myself, what needs to change? I may not be promised tomorrow so I need to live my best life today. Won’t you join me? Let’s examine our ways this week and take a chance to live like Frank.