What is it about 7lbs?

An old friend of mine asked me what it was about 7lbs that changed my life...it's going to be tough to tell you without ruining the movie if you haven't seen it. So, be warned, don't read any further if you really want to go and see the movie.

One of the reasons I love the simplicity of the beach is because it is so pure, not complicated and makes me feel closer to God. It's a place that I can sit, being very still and I swear I can hear God whispering to me over the sand dunes, touching my heart in ways that I will never really understand until I stand before Him in heaven. I love life and being a part of something that is much bigger than me. I love the way God shows me how to move forward when I don't feel like it and how to give of myself when I don't want to. I love being challenged when my best laid plans come undone, because often I discover that my best laid plans are not what is best, there is always something better.

I don't think I ever understood how precious life was until I almost lost Grant a few years ago, and I hope and pray that I will never have to experience loss and grief like that ever again. If you have ever lost someone you know that kind of pain. You know that somewhere deep inside you there is something that will never be the same no matter how much time goes by. You know that life is precious and you wish that you had appreciated what you had been given all along.

Even though Grant is still alive I can relate to the deep pain of Will Smith's character in the movie. He has lost the love of his life and is directly responsible for the deaths of six other people. He believes that everything he worked for is gone forever and goes about trying to repay seven people by giving them a part of himself. Now, I ask you, when you lost that person you loved, or watched someone you care for struggle through a very difficult time, wouldn't you have done anything to take away their pain? Wouldn't you have traded places with them in an instant if it could show them how special they were to you, how much they were loved and how much they mattered? But what if you couldn't, what if it was too late? What would you do then?

Will's character takes on the mission to give gifts to seven people, perhaps to absolve himself of the guilt he feels over the accident that killed his wife, but also because I believe he saw that even in spite of his challenges, even in spite of his best laid plans, he still had something to offer. Something more that would change the lives of those seven people forever, isn't that what you would want to do if it meant that for even the briefest moment a person felt loved?