Live Life
Tonight in my devotions I read this quote by Jim Elliot, 'Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.' And I also read this verse, 'Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens.' 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
I was so touched by these two passages. I try to live my life to the fullest. Yes, I can be quite lazy at times and in the next moment I am speeding off at a zillion miles an hour. My life seems to be full of peaks and valleys but I love it that way. I don't ever, ever want to regret not doing something. If an opportunity opens up, I want to take it.
I have friends (both present and past) who have these fears about differant things. Their fears overwhelm them to the point where they just can't take the steps that they need to take to live a better life. Some of them are very rational fears and other's I just don't quite understand. One certain fear used to control me. I was its puppet until one day I just made a decision that I don't want to live like that anymore. I didn't want fear to steal my joy. I didn't want fear to dictate my life. I didn't want to feel sorry for myself anymore. So, I stepped on that scary airplane one summer's day and cried nearly the whole trip. But I did it. I didn't let fear win. I have been riding airplanes countless times now. I even started flying by myself again. I will totally admit that everytime I step into that plane I am scared out my mind, but I do it with prayer. I refuse to let go of an opportunity that could be a blessing on my life because of a fear that I have.
I love my life because of the risks I am willing to take. Those risks could be: making a new friend, getting my backside off the couch and going and spending time with an old friend, making the decision to adopt a child, joining another fire department, and the list goes on and on. Opportunities, both small and large, come up all of the time and there is probably some sort of risk to it but what kind of joy or blessing will you get out of it in the end? I am glad I had a chance to be a firefighter despite what happened. I am glad I got to become friends with some really cool FDNY firefighters only to have their friendships ripped away on 9/11. I am glad I spent a whole summer visiting burn camps across the country, even though that meant I had to be without John for that time. I am glad that I get on an airplane scared *&^$less because at least I am on it. I am glad that I have met so many awesome friends because I was willing to attend some sort of event alone. All of these things have made me a better person, a more fullfilled person.
Wow, God has been so good to me! I am eager for so many more opportunities to come my way. I am excited about experiencing life, the simple and the complex, the good and the bad, I want them all. I refuse to give into fear. I refuse to let anything or anyone steal my joy. I refuse to be lazy and miss out on an opportunity. I refuse to give into my self-doubt that might cause me to be too embarrassed to grab hold of an opportunity.
God has given me this awesome life and dang it, I am going to live the heck out of it!
I was so touched by these two passages. I try to live my life to the fullest. Yes, I can be quite lazy at times and in the next moment I am speeding off at a zillion miles an hour. My life seems to be full of peaks and valleys but I love it that way. I don't ever, ever want to regret not doing something. If an opportunity opens up, I want to take it.
I have friends (both present and past) who have these fears about differant things. Their fears overwhelm them to the point where they just can't take the steps that they need to take to live a better life. Some of them are very rational fears and other's I just don't quite understand. One certain fear used to control me. I was its puppet until one day I just made a decision that I don't want to live like that anymore. I didn't want fear to steal my joy. I didn't want fear to dictate my life. I didn't want to feel sorry for myself anymore. So, I stepped on that scary airplane one summer's day and cried nearly the whole trip. But I did it. I didn't let fear win. I have been riding airplanes countless times now. I even started flying by myself again. I will totally admit that everytime I step into that plane I am scared out my mind, but I do it with prayer. I refuse to let go of an opportunity that could be a blessing on my life because of a fear that I have.
I love my life because of the risks I am willing to take. Those risks could be: making a new friend, getting my backside off the couch and going and spending time with an old friend, making the decision to adopt a child, joining another fire department, and the list goes on and on. Opportunities, both small and large, come up all of the time and there is probably some sort of risk to it but what kind of joy or blessing will you get out of it in the end? I am glad I had a chance to be a firefighter despite what happened. I am glad I got to become friends with some really cool FDNY firefighters only to have their friendships ripped away on 9/11. I am glad I spent a whole summer visiting burn camps across the country, even though that meant I had to be without John for that time. I am glad that I get on an airplane scared *&^$less because at least I am on it. I am glad that I have met so many awesome friends because I was willing to attend some sort of event alone. All of these things have made me a better person, a more fullfilled person.
Wow, God has been so good to me! I am eager for so many more opportunities to come my way. I am excited about experiencing life, the simple and the complex, the good and the bad, I want them all. I refuse to give into fear. I refuse to let anything or anyone steal my joy. I refuse to be lazy and miss out on an opportunity. I refuse to give into my self-doubt that might cause me to be too embarrassed to grab hold of an opportunity.
God has given me this awesome life and dang it, I am going to live the heck out of it!
posted by Wendy at 9:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home