Live, Laugh, Love…with ALL your heart!!

With another passing year and another passing birthday I am reminded of a couple things. For one, I am realizing that the years are moving all too quickly and before I know it, they will be gone! (LOL - sounds like I'm really getting old, huh?! But you'll understand when you realize what I got for a birthday present this year!!) And two, I need to take advantage of the time I have to live and LIVE MY LIFE TO THE FULLEST FOR GOD!!!!

These thoughts have prompted the writing of this blog as, according to my mother, I have just turned 26 years old!! (For 26 years I've had a VERY full life as I've spent the first 15 years at home, the next 3 at Oklahoma Academy until I graduated from high school, then one year in Norway, 3 years back at OA working as staff and teaching Elementary school, 4 years in College (with a break in between for overseas Student missionary work in Guyana South America), and now I've been a nurse for almost 9 years!! Yes Sireeeeee….that's a lot of math to be figuring! All I can say is these 26 years have been packed indeed and good thing my mom's memory is better than mine - LOL!)

So as I enter another year of life…what is on my heart…

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE…to the utmost!

You couldn't complain much around my house when I was growing up. We were always taught to look on the bright side. If tempted to give up on a difficult task, my mom would speak up in cheer leader fashion, "Remember that we are CANS - can do, will do, have done! No CAN'Ts allowed here!" (This was amazing since she herself often lived with chronic pain from a back injury and she was often tempted to get discouraged. Yet when those times came, she'd just encourage my cousins and I to gather around and we'd read the Bible and talk about Heaven together. It was her escape from the pain and what a beautiful escape it was. I'm so excited that someday it will be a reality…not just a dream! What special memories!) Despite many personal obstacles, Mom always encouraged and pushed all of us forward. (And she continues to do so to this very day!! She amazes me, and I think I could safely say that she is still my biggest cheer leader!!)

Another favorite quote of hers, I often heard when I started to grumble or complain was, "Melody - Life is what you make it and you will find what you are looking for!" (In other words, "Stop complaining and buck up!") It has shaped much of my life since… for I've discovered, LIFE TRULY IS WHAT I MAKE IT!!!! If I'm looking for the bad, if I'm looking for things to grumble about, if I'm looking for difficulties, if I'm looking for faults in others, I will find them. But if I look for the good, if I look for the blessings, if I look for the ways God is leading and ways to praise Him, I will always find them! Wow!!

We've all heard the popular "feel good" saying: Live, Laugh, Love! Probably a few of you have it on your wall or coffee table (just like me). Yet it constantly reminds me of the priorities of my life, and the priorities that I strive for in my heart. Let's spend a few minutes and reflect on this inspiring slogan:

LIVE!

What does it mean to truly live? Does it mean we tour the world and accomplish all our "bucket list items" before we actually kick the bucket?

I think that it's all summed up in my favorite verse: John 17:3, "And this is LIFE eternal that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Another powerful verse says: "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." I John 5:12. The life that God gives us is not a mediocre life. We aren't giving up anything good so that we can have this life, for the life that He offers is so much MORE abundant than anything we could EVER create for ourselves!

LAUGH!

What does it mean to LAUGH! Is "laughing" even spiritual?? I think that one attribute of God that we often forget about is His sense of humor. (I mean - come on, He made us right? He had to have a sense of humor to do that!)

Listen how one writer describes God's sense of humor:

"Unfortunately, many people in the world picture God as a serious old man, burdened with the incredible task of managing this vast, complex universe and providing adequately for all of His creatures, especially for the fickle, fallible, unpredictable human beings. But God is not old. Neither is He young. It is the passing of time that makes one young and then old. God exists outside of time. God exists in eternity, in an eternal now. And God is not serious, at least in the sense of being burdened with a task that is too big for Him. Is it more difficult to manage the universe than to create it out of nothing? Creation is filled with the humor of God. Consider the giraffe, the kangaroo, the zebra, the ostrich, the hyena and the baboon."

I love that one part where the writer says, "Is God more burdened in ordering the universe than He was in creating it out of nothing?" Hmmmm….good question, huh?? So why are we so often stressed when the waves crash and the strong winds blow?? As another friend of mine often says, "We need to keep our eyes on the face of God - if He's not disturbed or distressed, we have no reason to be either! However, if He's crying, we should be crying too!" But all too often, we mix it all up - as we do most things in life. We laugh when God is crying, and we cry over things that God only laughs about. Want a practical example? We are laughing in our pleasure and plenty, and God is crying for a world that has yet to hear of Him! On the reverse, how often do we find ourselves crying about our trials or the way that Satan makes our life difficult. But God's not crying! In fact, we're told in the Bible that He is laughing, because He knows the devil's day is coming…and soon, sin and evil will be no more! (Ps 37:12,13)

So friends, let's not just learn to LAUGH and have JOY in life, but let us learn to LAUGH at the proper things!

LOVE…with all your Heart!

I think this is my favorite of all! LOVE…what a beautiful gift!! What a beautiful gift we can give to others. But it will never equal the magnitude of the gift that has been given to us.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

He so loved us…that He gave…He gave that we would not perish, but have life…He intended that we not just have any normal life, but life more abundant. And that LIFE He gave, not for us to hoard and keep for ourselves, but for us to share with others. However, we can't share what we don't have. We have to be filled with Him before we can give to others and we have to be emptied of ourselves before we can be filled. And the only way that we can truly be emptied, so that we can truly be filled, so that we can truly LOVE is to be surrendered to Him…for even we cannot empty ourselves of self. It's a work that only He can do!

The "I love you" box...

About 18 years ago (1994, in fact, to be precise) I gave my mom a little "I love you" plaque. On the box I wrote the date with the words, "Don't forget - I love you!" Well…the next year, she gave it back to me with her words under mine: "I haven't forgotten - I love you too!" Well…this started a tradition, and off and on over the years since we have exchanged the box with our birthday wishes, Valentine's greetings, Mother Day wishes, or some other day celebrating our friendship and love. The box has been handed to each other in person, and it has flown across oceans. (It found me in Norway in 1995 & it followed me on my travel nurse career when I left to work in California for the first time in 2006.) While I don't remember all the memories or occasions that we exchanged this box over the last 18 years, the tattered box and the inscriptions scribbled over decades are priceless…in fact, much more valuable than the goodies that usually come inside. Why? Because they represent a life that we've shared…a life lived to the fullest, a life of laughter, and a life of love. There has been trials and dark valleys over these past 18 years…but those times have only made us stronger and helped us become what we are today! And there have been many good times.

It's been four years since I last saw the box…and honestly, I had forgotten all about it. But when I received it again (today) for my Birthday and Valentine's combined, I couldn't help remembering and being thankful….thankful that I have people in my life to share such special boxes! :-)

"Live, Laugh, Love" may be a cool slogan, but I believe these words should portray something deeper…deeper than what the world has made them to mean. A life is not just to live, but to be lived to the fullest for Christ - with all our might. Ecl 9:10


When we say "Laugh" it should mean something deeper than the passing glee of a joke or having a good time. It should portray a joy that goes to the depths of our very soul! A joy that cannot be shaken and trusts Christ even in the dark valleys and through the storms.

And when we think of "Love," it should mean loving with all our heart. A heart that looks above its own needs and desires and is willing to sacrifice for the better good of others, and most importantly for the glory of God.

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Duet 6:5

So, as I celebrate another year of life, I have to smile…smile that I have the gift of life and smile that I am loved, not only by friends and family, but by a Heavenly Father…a Father who doesn't just TELL me to live and love, but shows me how!!

 With all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my might… 

Just imagine if we really LIVED this verse to its fullest!