Where Do I Go From Here?
Have you ever wondered, “Where do I go from here?”
Has there ever been a moment when you have taken stark inventory of the personal investment in the life that you have been given and asked, “What should I do with the rest of my life?”
Or perhaps, in light of the truth that one’s life passes with sonic speed, have you ever questioned, “What will I do with the time that I have left on earth?”
When I consider those unanswerable yet meaningful questions, I come up with a myriad of answers.
I know that I will continue to breathe in and out … to make my bed every day … and to figure out what to fix for dinner on any given night of the week.
But life is more than that. Life is more than recipes … and clean sheets … and gasping for air.
I know that I will continue to take long walks … to love the sunshine of summer … and to delight in a good read.
But life is more than my preferences … my delight … and the things that I personally enjoy.
I know that I will play the piano … enjoy the comfort of a blazing fire in the winter … and anxiously await spring’s first bloom.
But life was never meant to be lived inwardly.
Life is more than me. Life is more than my pleasure … my comfort … and my ideas.
Life was intrinsically meant to be lived … richly and fully!
Life was designed to be experienced … with gusto and enthusiasm.
Life was always meant to be filled with eternal meaning.
Life, when lived appropriately and in its fullness, was meant to be given away.
As I ponder the next three or so decades of my life, I know that the years that I have remaining this side of heaven will fly by. I am fully cognizant that each day is a miraculous gift and not to be wasted.
And so, I have made a few simple but important determinants.
This is how I will live with delight:
I will smile at children and kiss the irresistible faces of babies.
I will.
I will listen to the wisdom of those who are older than I and honor their perspective birthed from experience.
I will.
I will laugh every day … hug my husband … and call my mom.
I will.
I will stay in touch with old friends … make new friends … and try to send thank you notes.
I will.
I will celebrate Christmas with reverence and with enthusiasm.
I will.
I will embrace Thanksgiving as a lifestyle and not as a mere holiday.
I will.
I will wring the joy out of an ordinary day.
I will.
And, I have determined that I will live my life with immaculate honor and uncompromising morals. This is what I determine:
I will live with honor and with integrity every day of my life.
I will.
I will encourage others with my words and with my actions.
I will.
I will forgive quickly and will release my anger with the setting of the sun.
I will.
I will bring peace to relationships and to confusing circumstances
I will.
I will choose to give more than I receive and to build a life on generosity not on material gain.
I will.
I will abstain from gossip and from partaking in negative conversations.
I will.
I will love truth more than ego.
I will.
But the greatest determinant of my life has always been, and will always be, to give my life away for the sake of the Gospel.
I will live to make hell smaller and heaven bigger.
I will.
I will spend time in the Word of God and ask God for revelation knowledge so that I can communicate the truth found only in the Word.
I will.
I will devote my life to prayer.
I will.
I will live personally and professionally by the moral principles found in the Bible.
I will.
I will allow God to use my life as a receptacle for His glory and for His goodness.
I will.
I will worship when the world is falling down around me.
I will.
I will decrease so that He will increase in me.
I surely will.
And now … I would love to hear from you! What are determinates that you choose to live by in the remaining years of your life?