Living on Purpose

Some time ago I chanced to speak to a lady who was heading out on a cruise the following week. As we spoke she indicated to me that this was a trip she and her husband had planned to take, but, alas, he died two months after a cancer diagnosis several months ago and so now her daughters would be accompanying her. She continued to say that they had been married for 53 years at his passing. You could see in her eyes that she was looking to another place and time as she lamented, “where did the time go? We had 14 years of retirement together. But, my time has just flown by. Where did the time go?”

 

Today, my friends, is again, a new day. We have the opportunity to make this day different from the rest… a new day to work on how we will be remembered. Are we living our lives in such a way as to make each day count? Are we living “on purpose?” I aim to. I want anyone who knows me to be able to smile, even chuckle, when they remember me…. as a character, an encourager, friend and lover of life and those within it.

So today is my opportunity to smile – and no matter what the day brings – make it count – ON PURPOSE.

 You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in Your providence watched over my spirit. Job 10:12 NIV

Today - let's show kindness, laughter and the light of love that comes from our Creator – remember that a smile can change your whole day – and someone else’s at the same time.

I can almost see your sparkling smile now.

Attitude of Gratitude - Kind words go a long way

I have always been tall - always. Although an over-achiever, I was also heralded with such titles as the "jolly green giant" (perhaps my aversion to green for so much of my life), amazon, and skyscraper to name a few. At 12 years old and 5'8", let's just say, I stood out. As I entered junior high my confidence would swing between "on top of the world" and incredibly self-conscious. While my parents were always confidence-invoking, they were my parents and I knew, of course, that they were prejudice. Afterall, I was their first born. Across the street lived a family who also had two daughters. Their mother was tall and statuesque and it was rumored she'd been a model (or could have been). One day while I was over visiting my friend, she said to me, "always stand tall and be proud of your height. You are beautiful." I held those words in my heart for a long time. They meant so much to me and I followed them. I walked tall and confidently, regardless of my inner insecurities, her words resounding in my mind on many an occasion. I never forgot her words and she had no way of knowing their impact on my life, but it was as Mother Teresa said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

Is there a kind word you have for another - even a stranger - that could lift them up today? What is stopping you?

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it." (Proverbs 3:27)