Be Passionate and Live.

When I was in my late teens/early adult years, I was listening to a record of Carmen and he talked about a man who said he was 'doing OK, under the circumstances". Carmen's apt response was, "What are you doing under the circumstances? You have to get out from under those circumstances!" Earlier this week, Mark Lowry was singing a song about David and Goliath and in response to the prostestations of his brothers saying David shouldn't go fight, he said, "That giant ain't too big to hit, that giant's too big to miss!" My thoughts about my attitude have been influenced by Andy Andrews, the author/speaker I first heard at Women of Faith conference in Spokane in September 2011. I have also been receiving emails of devotional thoughts by Joyce Meyer. Sometimes the words "positive thinking" seem ridiculously trite and can waver on ignoring that there are issues, hurts and pain we have to acknowledge and deal with to move forward in life but I have noticed that when I am thankful, and/or when I reflect on how God is working in my life, my attitude to those issues and heartaches change  and I am not held back in living.

This week I have met two amazing, godly men who have demonstrated this in their life. One is a principal of a Christian school who I had the opportunity to talk with for some time and who is passionate about the school God has placed him in. It was refreshing to see a man excited about the way God works in his life, in his school/work, his family, his staff and his church. As I sat talking with him, I noticed he was full of energy but kept attributing the praise to God. Even me being there was a God thing. I had sent my resume to a number of schools and his was one of them. He said that he usually doesn't open the mail and there's still a stack of mail to open but for some reason he felt compelled to open mine, read it and had to call me. Walking around the school, listening to the principal speak, seeing the evidence of God at work, was like 'coming home'. It was a timely reminder of how I am passionate about Christian education.

The other Christian man is a business man who is passionate about seeing the Kingdom of God grow. He said to me that we are an army, called to go out in the workplace and not sit around in the church pews. We each have a calling and we need to put God first in our lives. He has a long 'to-do' list in his life but he keeps a  healthy balance between his work and his personal life. Hearing him share about his faith and his commitment to serve and help others, listening to him attribute his 'success' as being all God inspires me in my life and passion, the very reason I am doing my Master of Education and majoring in counselling.

God has called me and for the moment, the place I am in, the course of study I am doing and the work and friendships I have, are all gifts from God and I need to be faithful and passionate in living. Yesterday my son texted me "That's what you do best, mum" and when I asked what he was referring to he replied, "Leaving things to the last minute." I chuckled and although he has a point, I am also striving to change and do things in a more timely manner. I wanted to have both my assignments done by the end of this week but other things kept popping into my life however, I still have time to get them done without pulling an all-nighter.

I am thankful that God introduced me to both those men and I know if they ever read this blog post, they would probably be embarrassed because their humility is grounded in God's grace. Both men have reminded me to live my life to the fullest, be faithful in the task God has given me to do, be passionate about what I am passionate about without losing hope or settling for mediocrity. Neither men are perfect and neither of them said those exact words but that's what their example has taught me.

Now as I sit here at my dining room table, surrounded by books, I look out the screen door and see sheets flapping in the breeze and Milly carefully watching them, ready to bounce. She bounces and it's cute to watch but not if she's got her teeth in my clean sheets! Time to work on my assignments, while keeping an eye on Milly.
 

P.S. If you read last week's blog, you can see God has already answered my prayer requests for four out of the five points mentioned. As for the fifth, having a horse, while I am trying to get everything else done, I do not have the time for a horse so it's all good. Oh, the new self-propelled lawn mower I pick up next Thursday. I needed a new one because the old one is dead.