A life worth living

Let me clear my mind first. It's been a day. But this was on my heart and I really want to express it. It might not flow as well as it did when it was first imprinted in my mind and heart, that's the way it always has gone with me. If I don't write it right away it's hard to grasp it again. But we'll try, won't we?

I finished this book a couple nights ago called, Ribbon of Years by Robin Lee Hatcher. It's such a beautiful book! Ahh, it starts in the summer of 2001 with this woman named Julianna who is in her mid forties and at her wits end. She wants more to life and doesn't know what it is that she needs. She stops at this open house for a house that is being sold and she walks in and goes up the steps. She walks into a room and sees a box in the middle of the room on a table, with chairs surrounding it. The box is titled "My Life" and the curiosity gets the better of her so she looks inside. Inside is little trinkets of things that don't seem to matter much: a poster, earrings, a Nixon button, and a few other things. Just then an old man walks into the room. He greets her and she feels ashamed of course, but then they start talking. She wants to leave, not really wanting to listen to stories of the past, but she finds herself sitting down with him. Others walk in, varying in age, younger than the first man. They sit around the table with the box and she introduces herself, blushing, and they greet her warmly. Before she knows it the old man pulls out the poster and gets misty eyed. Then the story begins.

The book goes through the life of this woman named Miriam, explaining each trinket and what it represented in her life. It starts off with her at the age of 15 in 1956. After each part of her life involving the item is complete it flashes back to Juliana and the present. It goes like this through the whole book. It was beautifully written and awe-inspiring. It made me think about life and faith and the simplicity of living your life for God when you take a step back and look at it. Miriam went through more trials then most people ever dream of facing, and yet her faith grew stronger as she grew older, and touched so many lives, even when it hurt her. I finished the book and sighed. I want that. No matter how short or long my life is destined to be, I want that kind of faith. A realization that has been playing in my life a lot lately as I've read and I've seen people go through situations is that eternal life is not a destination or place, but it's the relationship with Christ day to day and the fellowship that comes with that (John 17:3). She was used, not in striving, but in her being. She loved God, she knew him.

It made me think of the wisdom in older people when you listen to them. Especially when their minds go back to the past, you can see it in their eyes, the knowledge that is just waiting to spill out from their lips. I could sit all day with someone with such wisdom. I love becoming a sponge in front of them, listening to the lessons learned and the sorrows healed. There is so much to learn from them, and I pray that I will one day be like that. That through the trials I trusted in God and that my life was blessed from it! I guess the best is yet to come when you think of it in such a way. I pray that I will look back on my life with joy in that I followed Him with everything inside of me. I pray that my relationship with Him is so strong that as I die it will just be like changing neighborhoods. (ha, not really, but I was at a loss for words. :D) But I pray that I grow to know His character more and more each day so that when I do look back on my life I will do so in peace, that He worked my life out for the better, that I touched people for the better because of Him so evident in my life.

Like little ones sitting in front of the Storyteller telling tales and enchanting them with his rhythm and wordplay, I will sit in front of You, my Jesus. Daily I will be a sponge, soaking up all that you have for me to learn. I will walk with You. You are my Protector, my Shield, my Strong Tower, my Rock, my Compass, my Father, my Savior, my Husband, my Best Friend, my Healer, my Source. You are, and I'm not. I will be a Mary, sitting at your feet. Help me to not become a Martha, wanting to please you, but missing the target, because I'm missing You. True eternal life comes from knowing You not in knowing everything it takes to get there. Through everything that goes on in my life I pray that my life can be an example of You because I pray that through everything I face, I will cling to You and let You speak. I guess this is my offering. Thread my life together like only You can. We are only given this one life, and I give it to You. Help me to be gentle and have a soft-spirit. Help me to never lean on my own understanding, but trust in You. I pray that I learn the little lessons that life is always throwing at us through every decision. I pray that I give you every day and I'm quick to listen to Your Spirit. Help me be sensitive to You and the opportunities you put in front of me. My life is Yours.