As
Only Your Mama Can…. January 5, 201
Life Lesson Number 2: Live Your Life With The End In Mind
I have journals boxed up and in our attic from the time I
was eight years old until now. That is
43 years’ worth of journals. The first
one was a small pastel yellow book with a key given to me by my Grandmother
Frances who told me to write in it often.
I wrote in it…silly nonsense…and often… considering I was eight. And, I continued to write over the years in
somewhat sporadic fashion until 1981. It
was during this year that I became a committed journaler. In fact, it was this year that I not only
became committed….but journaling became a part of who I was and who I was to
become…..and ever since 1981, I have given a piece of my life over to the putting
on paper in ink the parts of my life I wanted to keepsake forever. The funny thing is, while I can see in my
writings over the years a maturity and deepening of person-hood, my core values
remain basically the same.
While I have not been perfectly perfect in my achieving all
of my self-set goals, and while pieces and parts of them are worthy of minor
modifications, the root of those goals I wrote down in January of 1981 remain
the core of my goals in 2014.
I am now a stronger more focused version of who I was then.
I knew early on the goals for my life…and, I wrote them down
and not-surprisingly, little about them has changed these past years….
While I have not been perfectly perfect in my achieving all
of my self-set goals, and while pieces and parts of them are worthy of minor
modifications, the root of those goals I wrote down in January of 1981 remain
the core of my goals in 2014.
What I didn’t know then, but see clearly now is that my
early writing was my way of reminding myself of what I wanted for not only that
current moment of my life, but what I wanted for the end of my life…and, it
began with being a Christian….having a Christian husband and a Christian home.
I dreamed of that as early as eight and knew of it’s
important as early as nineteen as is evidenced by my writing it down….in that
sacred place where I kept record of my dreams and aspirations….my journal.
Having said all of this, my prayer for you is to live your
life with your end in mind. You
can live one day at a time with no goals and future perspective….and, in fact,
we are called to live each day as it comes, but I believe it is important to
live for today but to envision your tomorrow.
If your ultimate goal is heaven…..you have to walk that
direction or you will not get there.
If your goal is to
have……
a Christian husband,
a Christian home
an education
health
love
respect
to be a likeable person
to have many friends…..
Then it is required
to…..
To be yourself a
Godly, Christian woman
Date and marry a Christian man
Build and maintain a Christian home
Work and obtain an education
Strive daily to be healthy
Be committed to loving yourself and others
Life a life of self-respect and respect of others
You cannot get to that end unless you walk that direction….on purpose.
So, as you head toward your twenty-fourth year of life, I want to
encourage you…..
Make time….take time…use your time to give over your life in prayer to
God and ask for His direction….
And, upon receiving His reply for the goals and the purpose of your
life….
Write Them Down….and keep them close to remind you of where you are
going….
“Find
out who you are and do it on purpose.”
Dolly Pardon
When we do not focus on our end goal, it is easy to be caught up in the
chaos of life which most certainly will come your way.
There is stress in that chaos which will bind you and trap you and even
kill your soul if you will let it….
Don’t let it….
Be purposeful….
Be focused….
Give over every single day to becoming who God intended for you to be….for,
you can have full assurance that you are here at this time during this season
because He has a purpose for you and for your life….
Psalm 139
You
have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For
you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Live
Your Life With Your End In Mind, Sweet Daughter….
Blessings,
ILYAOYMC,
Mama
