We're Only Given So Many Saturdays

When we are fully established in the present moment, we know that we are alive... This is the only moment where we can be alive, and we have it. — Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Living

The idea that we only have so many Saturdays has followed me for years.

Or maybe it would be more accurate to say it has quietly tapped me on the shoulder every now and then... until this season of life, when it finally decided to smack me upside the head.

It's not a new idea.

It's just become impossible to ignore.

Years ago, I remember reading about the "marbles in a jar" illustration. You fill a jar with one marble for every week you expect to live. Then each week, you remove one.

Some people use it to count down until retirement.

Others use it to think about how many summers they'll have with their children before they leave home.

The point isn't the math.

The point is perspective.

We don't have an endless supply of Saturdays.

Psalm 90:12 says:

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I've always loved that verse because it doesn't tell us to count our days so we'll become anxious.

It tells us to count them so we'll become wise.

A few years ago, I was sitting beside someone I loved near the end of his earthly journey. His priest was visiting, and he quietly asked how much time we thought he had left.

As a nurse—and someone who shares his faith—I found myself searching for comforting words.

Before I could say anything, his priest smiled gently and said something I'll never forget.

"While it appears you're ahead of us in line... any one of us could pop an aneurysm tonight and jump ahead of you."

It was an unexpected answer.

But it was also true.

None of us knows when our last Saturday will come.

We simply know...

there will be one.

Maybe that's why this season feels different.

Instead of rushing to the next thing, I'm trying to be here.

To notice the little glimmers.

To learn.

To create.

To pay attention.

To feel the hard moments without letting them steal the beautiful ones.

Learning to make soap has become part of that journey.

It isn't really about soap.

It's about curiosity.

Research.

Experimentation.

Patience.

Starting over when something doesn't work.

Making something with my own hands.

Growing in ways I never expected.

I'm not ready to stop learning.

I'm not ready to stop becoming.

And honestly...

I don't have time to waste.

But then again...

Do any of us?

If there's something you've been wanting to learn...

A place you've been wanting to visit...

A book you've been meaning to read...

A conversation you've been putting off...

Take the first step.

You don't have to finish today.

Just begin.

Because we're only given so many Saturdays.

Let's make this one count.