LIVE A LIFE OF NO REGRETS!!: What Are You Passionate About?

Quote from "Stepping Heavenward" by Mrs. E. Prentiss

"She says I shall now have one mouth more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure or visiting, reading, music and drawing.

Well! This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other.

Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which dwells is worthy of all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other dear darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, wondrously blest!"

Thursday, August 4, 2011

What Are You Passionate About?

Today is my birthday and the first thing on my list of to do's was to go to Dr. Dan Dickinson's funeral today. He was hit by a car while riding his bike to work and was survived by his beautiful wife and 4 young adult children. My eldest daughter went with me as she was in youth group with his older children and was grieved by their loss. There were very few dry eyes in the large church we were in. I'm unsure if you can have a "favorite" part of a funeral, but if so, I loved hearing his best friends talk. The theme throughout every story was that he had a passion for life. He did everything with with great passion whether it was enjoying family, eating, bike riding, working, studying or reading the Word. The common thread in all he did was his unashamed love for the Gospel and sharing it with the world. They spoke of his overwhelming generosity with his time and resources to spread the Gospel. Their stories were funny, serious, and encouraging and yet, you knew the great loss to the family of such a great husband and father. Always wanting to learn and grow myself, there were many life lessons learned by his short but powerful life. As one of his friends said, he lived more in 57 years than most folks do if they lived to be 100!

First of all, he put God and family first. He was disciplined in every area of his life. If he gained weight because of his love for food, he went back to Weight Watchers to get it off. He got up at 4 to study because he began work at a hospital with many young doctors and he wanted to stay sharp and knowledgeable. From five to six, he studied his Word and had his quiet time. Then he rode his bike to work because he was training for a big race later this year. He kept his Christian childhood friends and they kept each other growing in the Lord, accountable and had a Jonathon/David type relationship. He made regular time for medical missions using his personal vacation time to invest in others. He was a true friend to others and made an impact for Christ. My prayers go out to His family that the Lord will comfort them and that his children will grab his gusto for life, passion for Christ, and climb even greater mountains for the Lord.