Tag: Faith

When Nick Vujicic speaks–and he does, all over the world–people hang on every word. They can't quite believe that this man is saying what he's saying.

Certainly I found that to be true.

Some years ago my husband and I heard Nick speak and afterward joined the crowd around the stage. His smile lit up the room.

Since then I've seen him on television and just recently on YouTube.

Always, I marvel how every day he triumphs over challenges that would drive many of us to curl up in the corner and wail.

And then there are his remarkable parents. Three sonograms gave them no warning their child would be born with problems.

Imagine their shock to find their newborn son possessed no arms and no legs, only a sort of a "foot flipper" at the bottom left of his torso.

What would you do?

No doubt many well-meaning people told Nick's parents that raising their severely handicapped child would be too much for them and they should turn him over to the professionals.

They paid no attention.

That plucky pair took their baby son home and somehow loved him into a remarkable wholeness of spirit.

They did more than love him absolutely. They gave Nick a lifetime gift.

They instilled in him the sense that he was bigger than the obstacles he faced.

They assured their son he could trust God to make a way for him and use him. Somehow. Somewhere. Some way.

Still, it was years before Nick believed it wholeheartedly for himself.

The boy with the hard name and the weird body

Nick Vujicic (VOO-yee-cheech) was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1982. As you would guess, being taunted and bullied were everyday occurrences.

He says, "I often came home crying and told my parents, 'I hate school! The kids make fun of me!'

"My parents always said, 'Don't pay any attention. You're God's creation, fearfully and wonderfully made, and we love you. You just smile back and talk to them and play with them as much as you can.' After awhile things got better, but I often felt depressed.

"I accepted myself after I read about the blind man in John 9.  I read how Jesus said the blind man was born that way so that the works of God would be revealed through him. I said to God that if He had a plan for that man I certainly believed that He had one for me.

"That's when I totally surrendered the idea of ‘needing to know the plan’ and trusted in Him one day at a time."

Would you describe Nick as "disabled?"

Most people would. Here's what he says about disability: "We all have brokenness. Mine just shows more than most people's.

"Fear is the biggest disability of all. Fear is simply False Evidence Appearing Real. Courage is doing what's in front of us, even when we're afraid."

Asked how he finds courage to keep going every day, Nick smiled. "I thank God for what I have instead of complaining about what I don't have.

Nick says, “If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet, then certainly He will use any willing heart!”

God answers Nick's heartfelt prayers

For years Nick wondered whether any woman ever could or ever would love him. Then God answered his lifelong prayers for a godly wife and a family of his own.

He and Kanae fell in love and then married on February 12, 2012.

And now they have four beautiful children.

(To read more of his story, go to his website: www.lifewithoutlimbs.org or Google his name.)

Nick Vujicic often quotes a favorite verse.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                  Jeremiah 29:11

Dear reader friends, that same promise applies to you and to me, every bit as much as it does to Nick. If we compare our problems to Nick's we may feel we have no right to complain, but we are human. Inevitably, we will have times when we feel broken and downhearted. Even then, in Jesus Christ our hope and our future is secure.

Let's resolve to live our lives, too, by the sure and certain promises we find in God's Word.

Lenore

You Can Soar Above Your Challenges

October 26, 2023
It's hard not to feel the heaviness, isn't it?

For months we've chafed under quarantine restrictions this Covid-19 pandemic pushed upon us.

We live by new rules, trying to protect against exposure to this frightening, ever-changing virus. We long for someone who can lay out what will come next, but it seems no one can.

Not even the multitude of Experts.

Once we thought that was a lot to deal with

Now many U.S. cities have become war zones. We've watched newscasts that showed the tragedy of human pain and resentment and lost dreams that boiled up and spewed out violence in so many cities. Perhaps we've witnessed it firsthand.

For many people the bigger crisis is worry over money–or lack of same. Jobs that may or may not be there when "all this" is over. And what about schools? Sports programs?

Some mourn the death or continuing isolation of one dearly loved.

What to do? Where to go with all this pain? Take it to our Best Friend.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 ESV

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew ll:28-29 NIV

This touches us all

It hardly matters where we live. Fear wafts through the air we breathe and sleeps with us each night.

Our best antidote is to focus on who we are in Jesus. Remember what he said?

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1 ESV

Read those first two words again: LET not.

Jesus is telling us we have a choice. Don't fancy up the guest room in your mind to make room for fear. It cannot stay unless you allow it entrance.

One who came through the worst of times

Viktor Frankl spent 1942-1945 as a prisoner in four Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. All his family died in those camps, including his pregnant wife.

Despair lurked everywhere, waiting for an opening. After awhile he decided yes, he lost everything, but the Nazis would never, could never get the last word because he still controlled his mind. In later years Frankl wrote this:

"Everything can be taken from a [person] but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

That quote comes from page 86 of his best-known book Man's Search for Meaning. When Dr. Frankl died in 1997, that book already had sold over ten million copies. It's still in print and has been translated into many languages.

How shall we live in this time of crisis?

Here we are in what seems one of the worst of times, but like Viktor Frankl, we are free to choose how we will respond.

Will we live by faith

Or will we live by fear?

In every situation and every time, how we answer that question will shape the rest of our life.

To live by faith in this crisis time does not mean we ignore all the guidelines and blithely assume God will watch over us anyhow.

Rather, we love and trust our gracious and merciful Lord and we treat other people as we want them to treat us. We follow Government guidelines because the Bible tells us to. (Remember Romans 13:1?)

We live by faith, knowing and believing that God is still in control, even when it seems everything is falling apart.

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hand.  Psalm 31:14-15a ESV

What are we to do with fear that still follows us around?

Post a guard at the door of your mind and shut out fear with the Truth.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Human wisdom says that's too simple. Faith says that's how it works, even when progress seems slow.

Two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward. And so we grow.

Anytime fear seems to be winning call on the One who calmed the seas and ask him to still the storm in your heart.

And be patient with yourself. It takes time to lay down new track on the pathways of your mind.

Still learning,

Lenore
Choose faith and life instead of fear

June 4, 2020
Perhaps the most shocking thing about another school shooting is that we're not so shocked any more.

This is the world we live in. Try to make sense of. Weep over. Pray for.

Over and over people in the media and Experts of all kinds tell us that whoever the current perpetrator happens to be is "disturbed."

Why? Blame it on any of these: "Has a record of being in trouble." "Came from a dysfunctional home." "Grew up without a father." "Had physical or mental challenges." "Lived in poverty." "Had alcoholic parents." "Lacked good role models." "Fell through the cracks."

Take your pick.

Looking deeper

Name any underlying cause you choose, whether on that list or not. All are disadvantages, not justification for violent behavior.

Otherwise, countless individuals over the centuries could not have survived such circumstances and yet gone on to achieve, sometimes notably.

If all that mattered were the trappings of one's growing-up years, then every child of wealthy and famous parents–the more, the better–would be perfectly adjusted and living a life to be admired.

News accounts and celebrity mags provide endless evidence this is not so.

How do we find our way?

First we face the anguishing reality of life: The list of things we have control over is quite small.

For example, this latest shooting took place in Parkland, FL, a high-income community considered by residents to be safe and therefore, secure.

Obviously not. It's not the neighborhood. It's not how large our income. It's not being able to give our kids "all the advantages."

Rather, security flows out of knowing:

Who/what we believe in

Where we–and our children–can turn for reassurance

The foundation we are building our lives on is unshakable

Security rests on what's within us, not on what's around us.

Oh, come on, that's too simplistic

If you doubt that, read a few biographies of individuals who overcame big odds.

I met one of those over-comers when he spoke at a business meeting. At the time he was "just" a surgeon known for separating conjoined twins. Since then he retired and now Dr. Ben Carson has been appointed secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

That's quite a long journey from growing up in a single-parent family, living in a public housing project for years and playing with rocks found along the railroad tracks as he walked to school.

What brought him through all that? He credits what he learned from his mom, who always left home before he got up and often came home after dark because she worked two jobs.

(You can read their story here:) http://awomansview.typepad.com/a_womans_view/2017/03/take-heart-mom-you-are-your-childs-biggest-advantage-in-life.html

Shoring up our inner defenses

It starts with taking charge of what we feed our minds and therefore, what we give out to our families.

If healthy food builds healthy bodies–and it does–then focusing on Jesus and His love for us, His strength within us, will build strength within us and our children.

In time of crisis what's inside us is what inevitably will come out of us.

If we feed ourselves–and our loved ones–fear, it will be fear.

If we feed ourselves–and our loved ones–talk of God's strength within us, what comes out of us will be courage and peace.

Put the good stuff in

We're never too old or too young to grow in faith. Even small children easily learn "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so," especially if we sing it with them.

Talking to Jesus is natural for young children and they love knowing they can pray in any scary situation, "Jesus, help me!"

Kids equipped with these plain truths from early on know that someone loves them, no matter what. They know they're not alone.

Does that make trouble and danger go away? Maybe not. But it does reassure youngsters (and adults, too,) that they're not alone and forsaken.

When life bumps us around we draw on our reserves

If we're to have a store of courage and strength to draw on we need to regularly deposit Truth into our memory banks. Truths from God's written word, the Bible, like these favorite verses.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  –Psalm 46:1

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  –Isaiah 41:10

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.  –Joshua 1:9

These three are just for starters. You'll find many more as you read your Bible. Underline the verses that speak to your heart. Memorize them or list them on your SmartPhone. Find your way to be able to find them quickly.

The bottom line: How shall we live without fear?

As usual, we get to choose. We can watch the news and look around and live in fear.

OR we can live by faith in the Lord of heaven and earth and we can teach our children the truths of Scripture.

Like taking the right turn at a crossroads, that makes all the difference.

So let's speak faith, not fear. Let's live with courage, trusting God all the way,

Lenore
How can we–and our children–live without fear in a world of horror headlines?

February 21, 2018
Some of us think we must not have what it takes to be involved in the "Big Things" of life.

We seem to end up doing all the stuff other people don't want to do.

It's not that we mind doing it so much, it's the one constant that nags at us and drags us down:

No one seems to notice.

We're the ones who wash the dishes and pots after church suppers, then gather up the bundle of used dish towels, etc., and take them home. Of course we bring them back clean–bleached, if necessary–and folded.

No one seems to notice.

At home, with or without a paying job, we're on call to do the endless good things needed to keep our kids growing in the right direction and our home and family strong. We do it all with love and it's what we want to do. Still . . .

No one seems to notice.

It would be great if we were selfless and those around us spoke their appreciation, at least every now and then. That often doesn't happen.

Demanding perfection of ourselves–or others–is a waste

It's well to remind ourselves that we are, by definition, human and therefore, imperfect. (Isn't that why we need a Savior?)

But it's no surprise that at least once in awhile we'll think, I am really tired of being taken for granted.

Or perhaps we just sigh and think, at least I came through. Again.

I'm not perfect, but at least I was faithful. Lord, make me content with that. Thank you for strength to keep going.

As Christians, you and I know every day is a gift from God. The strength we need to live our lives is a gift, not a given.

If we forget that, we have only ourselves to depend on.

We can't know how God will use our small efforts

If you're a longtime reader, you'll know I like focusing on inspiring people. Let's look again at how God used some ordinary people.

Edward Kimball had no particular talent, but he decided to do what he could with love and with faith. He started a Sunday school class just for teenage boys in a poor Boston neighborhood.

A 19-year old shoe clerk, Dwight L. Moody, attended and came to faith in Jesus. Later, Moody established a successful shoe business in Chicago.

D. L. Moody, though poorly educated, started a Sunday school class and attendance grew to 1500 each week. Then Moody began to preach the Gospel and huge crowds turned out to hear him.

When Moody preached in Great Britain a pastor, F. B. Meyer, attended and went home a changed man. His new view of faith led him to alter his preaching style. Soon crowds began coming to hear him.

Eventually Meyer came to the U. S. to preach and another pastor, J. Wilbur Chapman, went to hear him. Chapman became an evangelist, going from city to city.

Soon he needed an assistant and hired a young baseball player: Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday became an evangelist. In 1894 he held a prayer meeting in North Carolina.

Mordecai Ham attended and came to faith, then resolved to reach people for Jesus. He began preaching the Gospel throughout the rural areas of North Carolina.

A 16-year old farm boy came to hear him: Billy Graham. You know the rest of the story.

You and I cannot know how God will use us in the lives of others

I think of Bill, whom I knew since I was growing up in the Midwest. After retirement he and his wife moved to the small city near their farm.

As he had throughout his life Bill took on small tasks. Pulling weeds on the church lawn. Sweeping up after events. Volunteering at a historical site to mow the grounds.

At his memorial service a number of younger people told how every Sunday after church Bill talked and laughed with them, then slipped each kid a stick of his favorite Blackjack gum.

One man spoke for many when he said, "The high point of every Sunday was talking with Bill. He always cheered me on and I knew he cared about me. I always chewed that stick of Blackjack, even though I didn't like it then and still don't. But it came from Bill and that was enough for me.

"I loved that simple, good man who loved me. I know now Bill kept me coming to church and kept me on track."

A stick of gum, you can't get much smaller than that

Day in, day out, this is what matters for eternity:

Our God-given call is to be faithful and to love. The rest is up to God.

Here's a lift for our tired hearts:

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people…   —Ephesians 6:7 (NIV)

[Jesus said] "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones… "                                                 –Luke 16:0 NIV

Speaking to others about Jesus the best way we know how. Offering a child a stick of gum and a listening ear. Cleaning up pots and pans and doing laundry. Little things by themselves, every one of them.

But who knows what God will do with your "little things" and mine? Only God. And that is enough.

Strength and joy to you, my friend, day after day.

Learning, too,

Lenore
For those times you feel no one notices what you do: Take heart!

October 19, 2016
It's a line we hear a lot, especially on talk shows and newscasts, "He/she never really had a chance."

Oh, yeah?

Meet Anthony Robles, a senior at Arizona State. In March, 2011, he captured the PAC 10 NCAA Wrestling Championship in the 125 lb. class. This came after a season in which he scored 36 wins and 0 losses.

Imagine the shock his 16-year old mother felt as she gazed at her son for the first time. Their problems looked to be insurmountable.

Not necessarily.

"My mom always told me when I was younger that God made me this way for a reason and I didn't understand what that meant," Anthony says.

He told one interviewer he can't remember ever feeling sorry for himself. His mother and stepfather raised him to believe he could do anything he set his mind to.

"I grew up thinking that way. I didn't think of my condition as something that could hold me back. I just thought this is how God made me and I'm going to make the best of it . . . . "

So seven-year old Anthony decided it took too long to put on his prosthesis and abandoned it for crutches. Nobody thought he could do it, but he rode a bike at age five and later played football. A few years ago in the fall he covered the ASU one-mile track in ten minutes. By spring he did it in eight. Regulars got used to seeing Anthony lifting weights, "running" mile-after-mile on the track and climbing the Stadium stairs as part of his training. He even climbed rocky Squaw Peak with his team, making it to the top in half an hour.

"My parents raised me to believe there was nothing I couldn't do," he says.

Coach Thom Ortiz says Anthony never asked for nor expected any special treatment. That reflects his mother's attitude. She told an interviewer. "He is a blessing. Don't treat him like he's something, but don't treat him like he's nothing, either. Just treat him like Anthony."

After college he plans a speaking career. This young man won't need any visual aids, because he is one. He has a powerful message about living with challenges. "It doesn't have to be a missing leg. You could have any obstacle in your life . . . Don't stay concerned with the negatives–what can hold me back, what my disadvantages are. I stay focused on the positive thing–what I have, what I can do."

Judy Robles fascinates me as much as her son. What enabled her to stay instead of walking away from her one-legged son? What kept her from becoming an alcoholic or getting strung out on drugs? Where did she find the strength to go on as she watched her little boy struggle and fall down, again and again?

She could have handled it by saying, "Oh, you poor thing. Here, let Mommy do that for you." Instead, she taught Anthony that God made him the way he is for a reason and if he set his mind to it, he could do anything.

Two kinds of mother love. Two kinds of motivation.

Since we know Judy Robles is a Christian, it seems reasonable to think she depended on God and on Bible verses like this for comfort and to keep her going.

I can do everything through him who gives who gives me strength. –Philippians 4:8

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book

–Psalm 56:8 (New Living Translation)

So what do you think, does faith in God make a difference in how we face obstacles?

You tell me.

Lovingly,

Lenore

Note: Quotes come from the numerous newspaper and magazine articles I found when I Googled "Anthony Robles."

Does faith in God make a difference when we face obstacles?

April 16, 2011
Around this time of year, as we look at our To Do lists, I expect some of us long for a "shot of Christmas," to get us energized.

I don't have a magic potion, but this YouTube should do the trick. You may have seen it, but if you take time once again, I promise you'll find yourself smiling by the end.

Are you smiling?

Some of us have been hearing or singing Handel's Messiah for years, especially Hallelujah. Not so many know the story of how Handel came to write this glorious music.

Picture the scene. It is the summer of 1741, in a small house in London. Discouraged and miserably in debt, 56 year-old George Fredric Handel considered himself something of a failure. Not long before he had given what he thought of as his farewell concert. Then a friend passed on a libretto based on the life of Christ. Its writer hoped someone could write music to go with his script, all of it quoted from The King James Bible.

Handel, a strong believer in Christ, read it through and was deeply moved. So on August 22nd, he set to work composing. After that no one saw him except the servant who faithfully brought him food, then every day removed the untouched tray.

One day the servant opened the door to find his employer with tears streaming down his face. Handel said, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

George Frederic Handel uttered those words just after completing the movement that ever after has been known around the world as the Hallelujah Chorus.

He wrote the entire work in an amazing 24 days. In that short span of time Handel not only personally inked each note of the four-part vocal score, but also the music and every instrumental part for the orchestra. (If you've sung the Messiah, you know just the choral arrangement plus piano accompaniment runs to more than 250 pages.) Whether we call it genius or divine inspiration, for more than two centuries this piece of music has been performed all over the world.

Handel died April 14, 1759, eight days after his final performance where he conducted his mansterpiece, Messiah. If you visit Westminster Abbey in London, look for his statue. He's shown holding the manuscript for the solo that opens part three of Messiah, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

It seems to me we can draw some lessons for ourselves. At the time, Handel would have been considered elderly and people around him considered him finished. So did he. It seems he never said, "Well, I can't do that because . . ." Maybe we, too, need to set aside our labels and our familiar thinking and step out in faith. Otherwise, who knows? We might miss out on doing something great.

As for getting in the mood for Christmas, I know what I need to do. I need to take my eyes off how much I have to do and focus on what Christmas really means. The Joy-Giver is just as capable of giving meaning and joy to our work as He was back in Handel's time. Sure, our "tune" may be small, but the world around us needs to hear it. So let's smile and give thanks, then go for it!

Comments?

Here's to letting our JOY show in this most wonderful time of the year,

Lenore

Need an injection of Christmas spirit? Find it here . . .

November 30, 2010
Another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. I love it that every time we say the name
of this holiday it reminds us of what it's all about: giving thanks.

Maybe some of us don't feel much like giving thanks right now. Maybe we're slogging through a rough patch that shows no sign of smoothing out. Every day starts and ends with one thought, one prayer: Please let this be over–soon!

Even if things are good in our lives, probably most of us can remember a time when we floundered and fretted. When that's where we are and life feels empty, how are we supposed to feel thankful?

All I can do is tell you what helps me when I find myself walking that long, lonesome road.

That's when I hang on to what I know by faith and by experience: God is still God and His Word is still true. Even if I feel abandoned, the Bible over and over says He loves me. What's more, He doesn't love me because of my shining faith and my perfect life, only because I believe in Jesus.

   [Jesus said] "No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me     and have believed that I came from God."              –John 21:27                                                                                                                                                                                       -Then I search out Bible verses that reassure me. Sometimes I write them down and keep them with me so I can repeat them over and over to myself. Like this one:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                                 –Romans 8:35, 37-39

When I feel weak and overwhelmed this verse reminds me I can draw on power beyond my own:

[The Apostle Paul says] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."                                                                               –2 Corinthians 12:9

When we're feeling down it's easy to lose hope for the future, isn't it? That's when I go to this promise:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                                                                 –Jeremiah 29:11

As for what lies beyond, here's the greatest promise of all:

[Jesus says] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son in to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."    –John 3:16-17

So, it's Thanksgiving. Time for officially thanking the Giver. I forget sometimes that "ordinary" things are a blessing. Like being able to breathe in and out. Like eyes that work. Like the ability to call up happy memories. It took me way too long but I've learned life feels, um, happier when I remember to thank Him every day.

Each of the Bible verses I've quoted is underlined in my Bible. It took me way too many years before I picked up a pen and started underlining, but it has blessed my life. Countless times I've opened my old NIV and gone from one underlined verse to the next. Every time I feel my spirits lift.

Be wiser than I was and start now. Find Bible verses that speak to your heart and your spirit and mark them. Think through how they apply to you and your life. Keep them handy to pass on to someone who's hurting.

By the way, any time you feel alone, think of this verse and the word picture it paints. This is how God feels about you and me:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.                                    –Zephaniah 3:17

Imagine! Now there's a reason to give thanks . . .

Here's to a JOY-filled Thanks-giving day, every day,

Lenore

P. S. I'm thankful for you, my friend, for taking time to read my words.

Thanks-living any day of the year, even in tough times

November 24, 2010
Rex Babin, cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee, perfectly captures the emotions felt by many of us during the amazing, God-blessed rescue of the Chilean miners.

I think it's because each of us could mentally step into the shoes of those waiting wives and family members. During the previous 69 days they shed gallons of anxious tears. Now their eyes brimmed with tears of joy and thanksgiving.

You and I have prayed for a loved one to be safe. We know what it's like to gaze into a beloved face we feared we might never see again. We know what it's like to long to hear the sound of someone's voice.

Perhaps some of those couples parted in anger that day. We have, too. We know what it's like to later wish we had said, "I love you, no matter what. I love you and I don't care what happened. I love you."

These joyful reunions remind us not to take each other for granted.

Last August 5th probably at least one or two of those Chilean wives waved from across the room or out the car window as their husbands went off to work. Another ordinary day like every other day. Ho-hum.

Except, of course, it wasn't.

We do that, too, don't we? After all, life is busy and we're in a rush. Family members have places to go and things to do. Kids go off to school. Nothing unusual about that. We'll see each other at the end of day.

Or maybe not.

Sure, mining is riskier than going off to the hardware store. But there's no escaping a shocking truth. We live with the same uncertainty as the miners who went down into the depths of earth.

Being alive is risky. Not one of us knows what any day will bring. None of us knows how many days we'll go on breathing.

So I propose we fix those Chilean reunion images in our minds and replay them often. Let them remind us to treasure our spouses and children and friends–and parents–while they're still with us. To understand that while they're not perfect, neither are we.

And let's be joyful in the moment we're living. One moment at a time is all we get and only God knows the number of our days. He wrote them in his book before we were born (Psalm 139:16.)

So with our perspectives freshly adjusted let's live out what we know. Each person we love who loves us back is a precious gift, not a given.

That's what we communicate when we say those three simple, wonderful words, "I love you."

And don't forget the hugs,

Lenore

Question for you: What story can you share with the rest of us? (Just click on "Comments" at the end and follow directions.)

Who needs to hear you say, “I love you,” today?

October 14, 2010