I Wish.......

Have you ever had one of those days where you say "I wish I would have...."

Today was one of those days for me.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job.  I love the people I talk with.  I love the fact I work outside all day long.  I love the satisfaction of fixing something that gets results.  There have only been a few distinct times that I wish I had chosen a different profession.  Today was one of those days. 

Nothing seemed to be going right.  I had been talked down to and yelled at by a customer.  I couldn't find an address.  I forgot my lunch.  It all came to a head when I had to go up in an attic that was 168 degrees, and try and fix an air handler.  As the sweat was dripping into my eyes and through my shirt, I felt the nausea coming on.  After I finished vomiting behind my van, the thought hit me "I wish I would have gone to college".

This was not as bad as what happened to me a few years ago.  I had to check the duct work under a house because they were getting rat droppings blown out of the vents every time the air came on.  That should have been my first sign to run, but I took on the challenge.  I found the spot to go under the house and when I started crawling, claustrophobia set in.  There was only about 12" of clearance for me to snake my way on my belly and pull my body the 30 feet to the ducts.  The smell was horrendous.  I thought it was just dead rats...I was wrong.  I shined my flashlight into the darkness and realized I was crawling towards a dead raccoon.  There was no way around it.  As I got closer to the carcass, I heard a noise the made my heart jump.  A sort of hiss with a growl mixed in.  I turned my flashlight a little to the left and saw the source of the noise.  I had cornered a raccoon, and this one wasn't dead.  I had no way to turn around because of the limited access.  The jungle rat was getting more and more ticked off.  The only way out was to push myself backwards the twenty feet I already had crawled.  I was so terrified that the only thing I go think of to say was "here kitty kitty.  Nice kitty. Good kitty" (My wife still ribs me for trying to call a raccoon like a kitten).  I slowly backed out and once I made it out I uttered those words again "I wish I would have listened to my gut".

I wish I would have....
How many times have you said that?

As long as we breath, we can try and fix past errors.  We can try to right something that we did wrong, or do something we wished we would have done before.  But what about when we die?  In the last month, I have seen more young people pass on then I ever have before.  What did all these teens have in common?  They thought they had a tomorrow.  What would you do different if you didn't have a tomorrow?

Here on earth, it's not everyday we meet someone who will give us a second chance.  But what if we met that person and he not only gave us a second chance, but he gave us a second chance everyday?  I know of someone like this.  His name is Jesus Christ.  He is offering that free second chance.  He took on the mistakes of all of us, in order for us to have those second chances.  All we have to do is take advantage of this opportunity by coming to Him.  I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  I talk with Him everyday.  That's all He's asking of us, to get to know Him. 

All of us will be at the feet of Jesus Christ someday.  Whether we believe in Him or not, we will all have to make an account of our life that we have been given.  I don't want anyone to have to look up at Jesus, look Him in the eye, and say:  I wish I would have known you.