Latest / The Voice: Breaking, Believing, Becoming / The Moments We Almost Miss
Transcript
- 0:10Welcome to The Voice. We're breaking, believing, and becoming finally have somewhere to be heard.
- 0:17I'm Kim Munoz, and I'm so happy that you're here.
- 0:22Today, I want to talk a little bit about the moments we almost miss.
- 0:27There was a line I heard recently while watching a series called The Madison.
- 0:32It's on Prime right now, and it completely stopped me in my tracks.
- 0:38But let me tell you, if you haven't watched this series yet,
- 0:42it is magic in all the best ways.
- 0:45It's truly beautifully written.
- 0:47It is a Taylor Sheridan series, and it's really, really good. But I digress.
- 0:56The line was this, make one new memory each day.
- 1:02And for some reason, that line stayed with me.
- 1:06Maybe because it reminded me
- 1:07of something my nursing school clinical professor used to say years ago.
- 1:12She would tell us, if you learn one new thing each day, by the end of the year
- 1:18you will have learned 365 new things.
- 1:22And back then, she meant it academically, of course, as nurses,
- 1:26as students, as people constantly learning how to care for others well.
- 1:32But somewhere along the way, I realize the same thing applies to life itself.
- 1:38Because maybe becoming isn't found in one giant breakthrough moment.
- 1:43Maybe it happens slowly, one lesson, one conversation, one hard season,
- 1:49one beautiful memory at a time.
- 1:53And maybe that's why this line resonated with me so deeply. Make one new memory each day.
- 2:00Because life moves quickly.
- 2:03And memory itself is far more fragile than we realize.
- 2:08Watching my father begin to show early signs of dementia changed something in me.
- 2:14Because this man, who had once been my mentor, the steady voice in the room,
- 2:20the person I had deep conversations with for most of my life,
- 2:25suddenly had moments where conversations became jumbled.
- 2:29Sometimes the memories were there, sometimes they weren't, and witnessing that
- 2:34was both heartbreaking and terrifying.
- 2:38It made me think differently about life, about time, about what actually matters in the end.
- 2:46Because I've spent the better part of my life trying to make my dash matter.
- 2:51That little space between your birth date and your death date.
- 2:54Trying to leave people better than I found them. Trying to build something meaningful.
- 3:00Trying to figure out my purpose.
- 3:03Understand what God was using me for. Because if you believe in Him,
- 3:08then ultimately that's why we're all here in the first place.
- 3:12But somewhere along the way, I think many of us start treating it like something
- 3:17we're supposed to figure out.
- 3:19Life is supposed to be figured out instead of something we're supposed to actually experience.
- 3:25And when we do that, we miss so much. I think sometimes we spend so much time
- 3:31asking God, what is my purpose,
- 3:33that we overlook the fact that purpose is often unfolding in the middle of ordinary
- 3:39moments, in conversations that we're having, in kindness,
- 3:43in showing up, and just loving people well.
- 3:48Because purpose isn't only found in the monumental moments, I think it's found in all the moments.
- 3:55Because I don't think God only exists in the huge breakthrough moments of our lives.
- 4:01He's present in the ordinary ones too, in the laughter, in the timing,
- 4:07in the people we encounter.
- 4:09In the moments that seem small, until the years later when we realized they shaped us completely.
- 4:16The coffee dates, the random conversations, the beach walks,
- 4:21the laughter that catches you off guard, the dinner you almost canceled because you retired,
- 4:28the moments that don't seem important at the time, until one day they become
- 4:32the memories you would give anything to relive.
- 4:36All of my parents, both natural and bonus, have always had this incredible ability
- 4:42to pull people into their world through the simplest conversations,
- 4:46and it never mattered who it was.
- 4:49The person stocking the shelves at the grocery store, a waitress,
- 4:54a neighbor, the owner of a company, everyone received the same warmth,
- 4:59the same curiosity, the same feeling that they mattered.
- 5:04Growing up, it was honestly fascinating to watch.
- 5:07And of course, as a kid, I used to make fun of my mom because she couldn't make
- 5:11it two steps into the grocery store without being stopped four times.
- 5:15Everywhere we went, she was, hey, Debbie, or to someone else,
- 5:20how are the boys, or to someone else, good to see you.
- 5:24And now suddenly, I'm here. Now my own boys stand beside me while I stop to
- 5:30have full conversations with complete strangers and checkout lawns and restaurants,
- 5:34and I can literally feel them thinking,
- 5:38Mom, respectfully, we came in here for one thing.
- 5:43And honestly, at this age, making one new memory each day sometimes just means
- 5:48remembering why I walked into the room in the first place.
- 5:51So we're all doing the best we can here.
- 5:55But the older I get, the more I understand what my parents were actually doing.
- 6:00They weren't just making conversations. They were making people feel seen.
- 6:05And in a world where so many people feel invisible, that matters more than we realize.
- 6:11Especially now, when so much of life is lived behind screens,
- 6:16talking to ourselves instead of actually talking to each other.
- 6:20I actually had a moment like this the other day at the bakery.
- 6:23The woman helping me just didn't seem happy. You could feel it immediately.
- 6:28So instead of doing the normal transaction thing where we all pretend we're
- 6:32fine for two minutes and move on with our lives, I simply smiled and asked, how are you doing today?
- 6:38And she quietly said, I'm really not feeling well.
- 6:43Now, normally most of us would probably say, oh, I'm sorry and keep moving.
- 6:48But something in me asked one more question. What's wrong?
- 6:53And she began explaining that her insulin was on back order,
- 6:56her blood sugar had been kind of high, so she just hadn't been feeling well.
- 7:01And in that moment, she stopped being the lady behind the counter and became
- 7:05a human being having a really hard day.
- 7:08So I told her I was sorry she was dealing with all that, that I hope she felt better soon.
- 7:15She explained her medication was on the way, but what she was having to use
- 7:20in the meantime was making her feel awful.
- 7:23And before I left, I simply said, God bless you.
- 7:26And the wild thing is, everything shifted. Her face softened.
- 7:31She smiled. Her entire energy changed.
- 7:34And the whole interaction probably lasted less than two minutes.
- 7:38Two minutes. That's all it took to remind me how desperately people need kindness right now.
- 7:44Not surface-level politeness. Real acknowledgement.
- 7:48Because you truly never know what someone is carrying while they're standing right in front of you.
- 7:54And I walked away knowing this because I've had far too many moments in my life
- 7:59that simply could not have been accidental.
- 8:02One of them happened the year after my father passed away.
- 8:05I was staying at the beach house where he had lived, spending a quiet weekend
- 8:11just remembering him, and some friends had invited me out for drinks and a little live music.
- 8:17But honestly, I debated not going. I wasn't really in the mood to get dressed.
- 8:22I wasn't feeling especially social. and I almost stayed home.
- 8:26Eventually, I decided to go. I called an Uber, and when the car pulled up,
- 8:31this incredibly fun woman with short white hair looked at me and said,
- 8:36hey, get in the front seat.
- 8:38You're my very first Uber ride, like ever. So I was laughing, and I'm like, tonight?
- 8:45And she's like, no, I just started driving Uber.
- 8:49And we immediately started talking. Now, trust me, my friends will tell you,
- 8:55by the time I get out of an Uber, I know the driver's entire life story.
- 8:59And honestly, most of them are probably emotionally exhausted or traumatized
- 9:05if I've been drinking by the end of the ride.
- 9:09But somehow, during our conversation, my father came up.
- 9:14And suddenly, she slams on the brakes and says, oh my god, I knew your dad.
- 9:21She said, my brother and I loved him. He changed our lives with his conversations
- 9:27and the way he treated people.
- 9:30We heard he passed away last year, but it was so unexpected and we just never
- 9:34knew what actually happened.
- 9:36It's been killing us.
- 9:39And then she put her brother on speakerphone right there in the car.
- 9:43And suddenly we were all talking about my father,
- 9:47sharing memories, laughing, crying, complete strangers, connected through one
- 9:54man's kindness and the impact he left on people simply by how he made them feel.
- 10:01And I remember sitting there thinking, if I had chosen not to go out that night,
- 10:06if I had stayed home, if I had canceled the Uber,
- 10:10if she had never decided to drive Uber, none of that moment happens.
- 10:17But God knew. God knew all three of us needed that moment. and somehow,
- 10:23in only the way he can, he placed us directly in each other's path.
- 10:29And to this day, it remains one of the most beautiful reminders I've ever experienced
- 10:34that our lives touch people in ways we may never fully realize.
- 10:39Maybe ministry doesn't always happen inside church walls.
- 10:43Maybe sometimes it happens in grocery stores, coffee shops, Uber rides,
- 10:48checkout lines, and two-minute conversations with strangers who are barely holding it together.
- 10:54Maybe making one new memory each day isn't always about doing something extraordinary,
- 11:00Maybe sometimes it's about creating a moment where another human being feels a little less alone.
- 11:07Maybe part of making one new memory each day isn't only about collecting moments for ourselves.
- 11:14Maybe it's also about becoming the
- 11:16kind of person people remember fondly because of how we made them feel.
- 11:21Because legacy isn't only about accomplishments. Sometimes it's about presence.
- 11:27About slowing down enough to notice people. To experience life while we're living
- 11:32it. to stop rushing through ordinary moments as if they aren't the very things
- 11:37we'll someday miss the most.
- 11:40Because watching memory become fragile changes you.
- 11:44It makes you realize life is happening now, not someday when everything is figured
- 11:49out, not when the schedule calms down, not when you finally feel healed enough,
- 11:55successful enough, or ready enough. Now.
- 12:00And maybe that's the real purpose of the dash. Not just what we built,
- 12:05but what we notice while we're here.
- 12:08The people we loved, the conversations we had, the moments we almost missed,
- 12:13the memories we made anyway.
- 12:17So maybe this season of life isn't asking us to do something bigger.
- 12:21Maybe it's simply asking us to be more present, to laugh longer,
- 12:27call the person, go to dinner,
- 12:29take the trip, say yes more often, stop waiting for life to become meaningful
- 12:36and realize that maybe it already is.
- 12:39And maybe healing doesn't always look like some giant breakthrough moment.
- 12:44Maybe sometimes it quietly looks like deciding to fully participate in your own life again.
- 12:50One new memory at a time.
- 12:54Before we go, I want to leave you with a few thoughts to sit with this week.
- 12:59Where in your life have you become so focused on getting to the next thing that
- 13:05you stopped fully experiencing the life happening right in front of you?
- 13:11Who has God placed in your path lately that maybe needed more kindness,
- 13:15more presence, more acknowledgement than you realized?
- 13:19And what moments are you rushing through right now that one day may become the
- 13:24memories you would give anything to relive?
- 13:27Because maybe purpose isn't always hiding in the big breakthrough moments.
- 13:32Maybe sometimes it's sitting quietly inside ordinary days, waiting for us to notice them.
- 13:39And maybe healing looks less like finding yourself and more like finally slowing
- 13:45down enough to actually be present for your own life again.
- 13:49So if you're listening to this today feeling exhausted, distracted,
- 13:54disconnected, or maybe even grieving the speed at which life seems to move.
- 13:59Please hear me when I say this.
- 14:02Your life is not happening someday.
- 14:04It's happening now.
- 14:07In the conversations, in the people, in the interruptions, in the laughter,
- 14:12in the small moments we're usually too busy to notice.
- 14:17And maybe the real beauty of life isn't found in the giant milestone we spend years chasing.
- 14:23Maybe it's found in the moments we almost missed.
- 14:27The unexpected conversations, the kindness we almost withheld,
- 14:31the dinner we almost canceled, the Uber ride we almost didn't take.
- 14:37And maybe that's part of becoming, learning that God is present not only in
- 14:42the extraordinary moments of life, but in the ordinary ones too.
- 14:48The moments quietly shaping us, connecting us, and reminding us what actually matters.
- 14:55Thank you for being here with me today on the voice.
- 15:02And until next time, make the memory, say the kind thing, slow down enough to
- 15:07notice your life, and keep becoming.