SEASONS -- A YEAR IN REVIEW
SEASONS ... that word sums up my 2006.
I was never more convinced of the significance of that theme in my life as I was this morning, when one of the pastors of my home church, Randy Shafer, stood up in front of the congregation and told us he has been diagnosed with cancer ... a pretty significant, life-altering event for him personally, and for our church collectively. And while I sat there watching this man pour out his heart to us, I realized that I was somewhere in between feeling utter heartache for he and his family and grading him on his reaction to this news.
You see, my life has weathered some pretty significant events as well (nothing quite so major as cancer), and whether I chose to acknowledge it or not, I had an audience that was closely monitoring my reactions to the whole ugly mess. Sadly, I wasn't nearly as strong or as audacious in my faith as Randy was today.
If I know Randy at all, which I can't say I do well, but if I know him just a little, I know that he would want, above all else, to have Jesus shining clearly through the ugliness of this disease. "Cancer doesn't define me," was Randy's resounding statement this morning. I gotta tell you -- that took guts to say. That took audacious faith.
I say a lot of stuff on this blog, most of it is crap ... me just being the big goober that everyone that knows me well, knows I am! And I'm cool with that. However, I don't want the weaknesses that I have define me. I don't want those cracks in my faith to be my lasting impression. I've said it before, and I will say it again, I don't want to be a small drip in a mud puddle. I want this life to stand for something. I want to be a fantastic ripple in the sea of humanity. I want my life to have significance to those around me. Don't we all ...
So, today, this blog entry is one of my few non-crap items.
My life theme this year has been SEASONS. From the sometimes incapacitating depression of not having a job to the over the top high of moving two states away to start a new adventure and everything in between, my life this year has been a cycle of seasons. I resisted the seasons for a long time, willing change to keep it's distance, but what I was really doing was denying the inevitable cycle of this life we've been given and denying myself the adventure that such cyclical movement brings.
On the banner or masthead of my blog, I have the following saying:
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand -- strawberries in the other -- body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming: 'Woo Hoo! What a ride'!"
I have no idea who wrote it, but God bless them for putting into words what I want my life to be! I want to experience each season to the fullest with the audacity that God intended! I want to live boldly, live fully, live intentionally, live well, and live out loud!
BRING IT ON 2007!
I was never more convinced of the significance of that theme in my life as I was this morning, when one of the pastors of my home church, Randy Shafer, stood up in front of the congregation and told us he has been diagnosed with cancer ... a pretty significant, life-altering event for him personally, and for our church collectively. And while I sat there watching this man pour out his heart to us, I realized that I was somewhere in between feeling utter heartache for he and his family and grading him on his reaction to this news.
You see, my life has weathered some pretty significant events as well (nothing quite so major as cancer), and whether I chose to acknowledge it or not, I had an audience that was closely monitoring my reactions to the whole ugly mess. Sadly, I wasn't nearly as strong or as audacious in my faith as Randy was today.
If I know Randy at all, which I can't say I do well, but if I know him just a little, I know that he would want, above all else, to have Jesus shining clearly through the ugliness of this disease. "Cancer doesn't define me," was Randy's resounding statement this morning. I gotta tell you -- that took guts to say. That took audacious faith.
I say a lot of stuff on this blog, most of it is crap ... me just being the big goober that everyone that knows me well, knows I am! And I'm cool with that. However, I don't want the weaknesses that I have define me. I don't want those cracks in my faith to be my lasting impression. I've said it before, and I will say it again, I don't want to be a small drip in a mud puddle. I want this life to stand for something. I want to be a fantastic ripple in the sea of humanity. I want my life to have significance to those around me. Don't we all ...
So, today, this blog entry is one of my few non-crap items.
My life theme this year has been SEASONS. From the sometimes incapacitating depression of not having a job to the over the top high of moving two states away to start a new adventure and everything in between, my life this year has been a cycle of seasons. I resisted the seasons for a long time, willing change to keep it's distance, but what I was really doing was denying the inevitable cycle of this life we've been given and denying myself the adventure that such cyclical movement brings.
On the banner or masthead of my blog, I have the following saying:
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand -- strawberries in the other -- body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming: 'Woo Hoo! What a ride'!"
I have no idea who wrote it, but God bless them for putting into words what I want my life to be! I want to experience each season to the fullest with the audacity that God intended! I want to live boldly, live fully, live intentionally, live well, and live out loud!
BRING IT ON 2007!
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