Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”
― Mother Teresa

We are just a week away from another move. Thankfully it is one of our easiest moves, but as I get a little older and because we've moved several times now, I am just plain tired of and do not enjoy it at all. As we are staring down the year ahead and see our one year anniversary in Missouri coming ever closer, I find myself reflecting on what we have faced and what we have yet to accomplish. I love the quote I found by Mother Theresa which is noted above. I believe wholeheartedly that God does not expect us to sit and wait for Him to magically orchestrate our lives without our faithful action. When a door opens, which can be interpreted many ways, I hit the pavement in hot pursuit until the door slams in my face. An open door can be in many forms, but this is just my opinion. First question we have to ask ourselves after a difficult time in our lives, is "Am I making an effort?" Are you setting any goals for yourself? Are you looking into any and every opportunity in the area you are most passionate about? Are you connecting and nurturing relationships with your family, friends, pastors, mentors, etc. who can help the process continue to move forward? We all have key people in our lives, people who can help connect the dots, keep the motion moving forward. The action we take to pursue these open doors will boost our confidence and enable us to keep moving forward if one thing doesn't happen, well, then something else may very well come along. In our most stressful days when Ryan had more than one worship ministry job lead and none of them came through, do you know what I said to him? "I know it isn't the answer you may have hoped for, but it is an answer." Don't give up, and don't lose momentum in the waiting, but actively continue your pursuit, dig deeply into Your time with God and absorbing His Word, and trust that another door is going to open. Mother Theresa's words are a great way to help me get refocused, because bottom line is when life hands us something good or bad, we have the choice to act on it or not. We can draw from the confidence inspired by Christ within us and keep moving forward, inching our way toward the next chapter of our lives. Be inspired today and embrace His Truth. Here's hope!

So what should we say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should we fear? If He did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over on our account, then don’t you think that He will graciously give us all things with Him? Can anyone be so bold as to level a charge against God’s chosen? Especially since God’s “not guilty” verdict is already declared. Who has the authority to condemn? Jesus the Anointed who died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God where He pleads on our behalf. So who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing. As the psalm says,

On Your behalf, our lives are endangered constantly;
we are like sheep awaiting slaughter.

But no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 The Voice Translation)


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