Last week some of our grand-children came to visit. They were playing and laughing together. Tatum, the oldest grand-daughter, was laughing so hard as she played on the floor with her brother. It was not a fake laugh or even half of a laugh, it was a deep belly laugh. As I watched and heard them playing, I thought to myself, "When did I lose my laughter? When was the last time, I laughed a belly laugh? When was the last time I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face?
During this One Year to Live, I want to find a way to bring laughter back into my life. I don't really know when I lost it. I just know that I don't laugh much any more. As an adult, there have been circumstances that I call "joy robbers," that I have allowed to steal my joy and laughter. Most of these circumstances were beyond my control: my mother's Alzheimer's and her death, my dad's declining health and death, the death of friends, the loss of relationships, and life changes in general.
We are called to be joyful. Phillipians 4:4 tells us "To rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." James 1:3 tells us to "Count it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Romans 12:12 says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." My challenge and struggle is how to find laughter in the midst of very sad and depressing events around me. The apostle Paul who suffered many hardships didn't seem to struggle with finding the joy in his life. Even in his imprisonments, beatings, and struggles, he was able to rejoice. I am determined that through prayer that I am going to find ways this year to bring laughter back in my life even through all the trials of daily living. I don't know how this is going to happen, I don't know what it is going to look like, but I am trusting that God is going to answer this prayer.
I do a girl's road trip every year with teachers that I used to teach with. I always look forward to that trip because we are silly, and we do laugh. It's the highlight of the trip, and I always come back so refreshed, but it does not take long to fall back in the rut of the "joy robbers."
Some things that I have already started doing to bring laughter back is reading funny novels, watching funny movies, and hanging out with my grandchildren and people who will make me laugh. I also am going to get out of myself and focus on serving others. Hopefully, with the focus off of me, I can, like Paul, find joy and laughter no matter what I am dealing with.
Joy,
.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Dash
I love to walk through old cemeteries and read the older gravestones. Back in the day, the family put quite a bit of information on the stone. I like to imagine what that person was like from the information given. Usually, it will state a few attributes that person exhibited while they lived. Each person was special to someone, and each person touched others' lives.
There is a power point, and actually a very good one, called "The Dash." It has made the round on the internet serveral times. The "dash" signifies the time between birth and death. It is the "dash" that makes the difference, not only in our own life, but in the lives of others.
The last few months I have thought a lot about death and dying. We have lost a dear friend, dear friends have lost loved ones, and ones way too young to die have passed away. There's no one I know who has not been touched by death in some way in the last six months. If I reflect on this, it is quite depressing, but that is not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on the dash because that is where the difference is. It represents a life lived.
Our friend, who died back in November, was one of the kindest men I have known. I never heard him speak unkindly about anyone. We were having a conversation one night around my dinner table, and I was upset about some things, and he said in his very quiet way, "Well, if I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem." At first I was taken aback by what he said because he was approaching this conversation from an entirely perspective than I was. After they left that night, I really thought a lot about what he said, and have thought about it a lot since then when looking at situations and trying to find answers, asking myself, "Am I part of the problem or part of a solution?" This man lived his life to the fullest. He was a wondeful son, sibling, husband, father, grandfather, brother in Christ, and friend. When he died, so many expressed the influence he had on them. His "dash" was a life well lived.
This week we got news of a young man who died that grew up with our daughters. He was in the prime of life, and his death has raised many questions and brought to surface many old wounds we thought had been laid to rest. There are just some answers we are not going to have on this side of life, but even among all the questions, he lived a life that touched so many. Even though his dash is not as long, his influence and leadership will continue.
God had and has a plan for each person who has taken a breath here on earth. Because He gave us free will we can choose a life that follows Him and brings glory to Him, or we can choose to live out of His will. He has allowed others to cross our paths for lessons and experiences He has wanted them to teach us or for us to be a light for Him. We probably don't know the impact we have even had on most people. Most tend to not share until it's too late how a person has touched their lives, and usually they share it with the family at the end of their lives. There are even lessons for us to learn from people who choose their own paths away from God.
Living out the challenge of One Year to Live, I want to share with people before it's too late what they have meant to me in my life. I have taken advantage of the opportunity to let some people know how they influenced my life, but there are still so many I need to let know the impact that they have had on me.
I pray that when God calls me home and when someone looks at my "dash," that it will in small way be a symbol of a life that exhibited His love and grace. I want my "dash" to represent a life lived for others. I have been blessed with a great life. I have done more and seen more than I ever dreamed possible. It has not been a life without problems, heartaches, and disappointments, and I definitely haven't always lived up to what God has called me to be, but in every experience God has taught me lessons that have made me the person that I am today.
Grace,
There is a power point, and actually a very good one, called "The Dash." It has made the round on the internet serveral times. The "dash" signifies the time between birth and death. It is the "dash" that makes the difference, not only in our own life, but in the lives of others.
The last few months I have thought a lot about death and dying. We have lost a dear friend, dear friends have lost loved ones, and ones way too young to die have passed away. There's no one I know who has not been touched by death in some way in the last six months. If I reflect on this, it is quite depressing, but that is not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on the dash because that is where the difference is. It represents a life lived.
Our friend, who died back in November, was one of the kindest men I have known. I never heard him speak unkindly about anyone. We were having a conversation one night around my dinner table, and I was upset about some things, and he said in his very quiet way, "Well, if I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem." At first I was taken aback by what he said because he was approaching this conversation from an entirely perspective than I was. After they left that night, I really thought a lot about what he said, and have thought about it a lot since then when looking at situations and trying to find answers, asking myself, "Am I part of the problem or part of a solution?" This man lived his life to the fullest. He was a wondeful son, sibling, husband, father, grandfather, brother in Christ, and friend. When he died, so many expressed the influence he had on them. His "dash" was a life well lived.
This week we got news of a young man who died that grew up with our daughters. He was in the prime of life, and his death has raised many questions and brought to surface many old wounds we thought had been laid to rest. There are just some answers we are not going to have on this side of life, but even among all the questions, he lived a life that touched so many. Even though his dash is not as long, his influence and leadership will continue.
God had and has a plan for each person who has taken a breath here on earth. Because He gave us free will we can choose a life that follows Him and brings glory to Him, or we can choose to live out of His will. He has allowed others to cross our paths for lessons and experiences He has wanted them to teach us or for us to be a light for Him. We probably don't know the impact we have even had on most people. Most tend to not share until it's too late how a person has touched their lives, and usually they share it with the family at the end of their lives. There are even lessons for us to learn from people who choose their own paths away from God.
Living out the challenge of One Year to Live, I want to share with people before it's too late what they have meant to me in my life. I have taken advantage of the opportunity to let some people know how they influenced my life, but there are still so many I need to let know the impact that they have had on me.
I pray that when God calls me home and when someone looks at my "dash," that it will in small way be a symbol of a life that exhibited His love and grace. I want my "dash" to represent a life lived for others. I have been blessed with a great life. I have done more and seen more than I ever dreamed possible. It has not been a life without problems, heartaches, and disappointments, and I definitely haven't always lived up to what God has called me to be, but in every experience God has taught me lessons that have made me the person that I am today.
Grace,
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