Two Lessons

I am beginning to believe that HolySpirit is doing his best to pound a message into my heart and soul ... {live life}. Every morning I'm reading this or that blog, from this or that author. There are my usuals I look for, and then there are the random writings that are discovered through a tweet or being on someone else's blog. The passage below was courtesy of following Lauren Barlow on Twitter:

"As I get older I realize how precious life is. How every moment has the potential to be a defining point in the timeline of life. The good and the bad. Because time is precious. Moments are defining. Life is meant to be experienced to the full. And I can honestly say, after looking back on 25, I lived it. I experienced it. I embraced it with all that was within me and because of that, I will never forget 25 as long as I live. ... [and] Now I can add “General Editor” on my list of things I have had the courage to attempt in my life. ... All this to say, no matter how old you are or where you are in your life, own it. Live it to the full. Be there for life. Breathe it in and let it fill you. Cause we’ve got one shot at this so let’s make every second count." Lauren Barlow from BarlowGirl

There were three separate pieces of her blog that grabbed me, which is why I kind of combined them into one big {live life} paragraph. I know it's easy to read a just barely 26-year-old heart and think, "Of course she can write this. She's living a life most of us only dream of. She gets paid for her passion [music], when most of us only work for a living; and she gets to travel the world through both charity opportunities and personally funded vacations [because music is her money maker]. Who couldn't write a blog like this when they're still young, living out their dreams and traveling the world?"


Well, I can't say I don't agree with that (made-up) rant somewhere in that place in my heart that's a bit envious of her opportunities. BUT, I also realize that the reason she can write a blog like this at her young age is because she's followed the dream God planted in her DNA when He was knitting her in her mother's womb. Too many of us burn through our younger years just living as fast and hard--or slow and steady--as we can simply because we ... can. We're immature and carless and careless because we're immature. Too many of us were not taught--really taught--the truth that there's more to Christianity when we're teens and young adults then just sealing our eternity. At least I know this to be my truth. 


I didn't think of [what] God actually created me for as I was growing up, except that I knew in my heart-of-hearts (with memories at the age of 14) that I wanted to be a wife and mom. Maybe [that] was the purpose for which God created me--with a lot of extra stuff that fits into that kind of dream along the journey--and I just was never mature enough in my relationship with Him to understand that. So instead of having my eyes and ears looking and listening for His guidance, I wasted my young adult years on building memories that are nothing but chaff; memories that grew out of moments God never intended for me to experience. 


Before I travel too far off the intended purpose of this blog, I'll reel myself in. There are two points to me saving this particular blog for posterity. 


#1 - Because I am not yet dancing with my Savior in heaven, it's obvious that He still has plans for me here. I can choose to waste the years ahead of believing I'm past my prime or that there's nothing left once mommy-hood is finished; or I can choose to approach each day with a "experience every moment" attitude. 


#2 - I want to continue to get better and better at teaching my children the truth that their lives don't start at 25. Every choice they make (even now) is either drawing them closer to God's plan for their lives or it's a step of wandering away. Helping them to fine tune their God-eyes and God-ears builds a hope in my heart that one day in the not-too-distant future, I will read a blog like Lauren's written by each of my children.