Living Life as an Exclamation Point!

In the spur of the moment, I hit the road to Austin on Sunday for just a 24-hour stay. What is that about? It's about living with no regrets and seizing the moments to living my life as an "exclamation point". I had the opportunity to see my 14-year old grandson pitch nearly his entire baseball game, followed by surprising my sweet grandson's wife (my granddaughter, Ruth Hays Wuerch) by getting to celebrate her birthday. Ruth is a triplet and it's so beautiful that her sister lives and works in Austin and we were able to celebrate both girls, while the 3rd triplet is a Navy Officer stationed in Corpus Christi. It was especially exciting to be in Austin to celebrate their upcoming move from Atlanta to Austin. Yay! My "Wuerch" men will all be living in Austin in just a couple of weeks. Lots more opportunity for exclamation points!

James 4:14 "You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." James gave us a "spoiler alert"! He said our lives would be like a vapor that appears and then, just as quickly, vanishes! That's a reality check -- especially for those of us who, in our 20s -- looked at the old folks (in their 50s) and thought, "They are so old!" Now, we are past our 50s and "old folks"don't seem so old anymore! LOL!

The fact is -- the length of our lives isn't based at all on quantity, but it's based on quality. This gift of life, however brief, should be spent living in such a way that the very One who created us will always look upon His investment as a "creation....well done"! Rather than looking at how fast time goes by, wouldn't it be more productive to think....."How can I make the most of the time that I have?" What if we put an exclamation point on every day we have? An exclamation point is reserved for the accomplishments that excite our spirits and set our hearts on fire. Living a humdrum life doesn't get an exclamation point. Spending precious time complaining, whining, worrying, being cranky and cynical doesn't get an exclamation point.

Getting an exclamation point has everything to do with how we wake up each day. Getting an exclamation point has something to do with "hitting-the-ground-running" each day. There's just no time to be thinking about the good old days. I love my memories. I love all of my old photos. But if I want an exclamation point at the end of each and every day, I need to wake up saying "What can I do TODAY to leave a mark and a legacy?" Here's what "Exclamation Point" recipients look like:
They have a life to live so they live it… exclamation point!
They have an assignment to complete…exclaimation point!
They have work to be done….exclamation point!
They have a victory to achieve….exclamation point!
They have a devil to defeat….exclamation point!
They have a storm to calm….exclamation point!
They have a prayer to pray…exclamation point!
They have a promise to claim… exclamation point!
They have a habit to conquer…. exclamation point!
They have a temptation to overcome….exclamation point!
They have an enemy to love…. exclamation point!
They have a burden to lift…. exclamation point!
They have a friend to help….exclamation point!
They have a race to be won...exclamation point!

On a gravestone, it shows a date born, then a hyphen, then the date of death. The hyphen represents all the in between birth and death -- what that person accomplished in their lifetime. Quite frankly.....I'd like for mine to have on it:
"DONNA LIVED.... EXCLAMATION POINT!!"

What Punctuation Mark Defines You?

What Punctuation Mark Defines You?
I always want to be growing and learning. When we "cease and desist" our desires for living a full, active life and hungering and thirsting for knowledge and creativity, we will become stagnant. Like a rose that is cut off from its stem, we'll wither up and eventually lose all zest for living. In essence, a PERIOD defines who those folks are. Go here PERIOD. Go there PERIOD. Do that PERIOD. And, when all those goings and doings end, they END. I've heard about folks who had a full, successful and profitable life, but when retirement came....they quit living. Oh, they may be alive, but retirement, to them, was a PERIOD. Done. You might as well place a period after their name, because as far as they are concerned, they've gone as far as they are willing to go in this life. That certainly wasn't Mother Teresa. At age 86, she was accomplishing more and helping more people than a 20-something year old. I want to follow her lead.

A COMMA is a punctuation mark that separates words and phrases. A COMMA is never used at the end of a sentence. Whenever we see a COMMA, we know that there is more to come. A COMMA lets us know that after a short pause, more will follow. It is so awesome to be around COMMA people. They'll finish one project or service or outreach, and before you know it, they're on to the next one. They pitch in at a moment's notice, and without complaint. They’re first in line to volunteer, despite their already busy schedule. They work COMMA, work-out COMMA, teach a Sunday School Class COMMA, volunteer at a charity COMMA, help a neighbor in need COMMA..... not PERIOD. They just take a slight PAUSE, and they're at it again. Actually, our lives should be a series of COMMAS. We ought to go from one good deed of kindness to another.

The QUESTION MARK folks have so much potential. They are always growing because they are always learning. They are humble enough to know "they don't know it all". They are the ones who don't ALWAYS have to be right. They are the ones who are willing to ASK for directions, the one who is teachable and is always able to make course corrections and change directions.

Drum roll please!!! The GRAND FINALE of my punctuation post is about the EXCLAMATION POINT folks. The EXCLAMATION POINT signifies some dynamic, powerful and enthusiastic moment, action, and life being lived. EXCLAMATION POINTS are reserved for life’s great adventures and accomplishments that excite the spirit and set our hearts on fire. That's how we should be living our lives. Ordinary is not for them EXCLAMATION POINT! No complaining from them EXCLAMATION POINT! These folks are defined by their enthusiasm and live with great anticipation of what tomorrow holds EXCLAMATION POINT! Don't you love hanging out with EXCLAMATION POINT people? They live with relentless faith and will power to trudge forward in spite of a lot of COMMAS, PERIODS and QUESTION MARKS that have come their way. They have a life to live and they're not giving up until they're taken up.......… EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have work to be done….. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have mountains to climb.....EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have victories to achieve…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a devil to defeat…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a storm to calm…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a prayer to pray…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a promise to claim… EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a hunger to be satisfied…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a thirst to be quenched…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a race to be won......EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a mission to be accomplished....EXCLAMATION POINT!

I want the DASH punctuation mark on my tombstone to say......
SHE LIVED LIFE FULL ON....EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!

Living Life as an Exclamation Point

Day 283 of Photo Inspirations -- Living Life as an Exclamation Point!
#TBT -- I ran across this photo that was taken on a family vacation in 2003.  These are our four oldest grandchildren, who are now, 23, 20, 15 and 14.  Wow!  Where did those 12 years go?   Graduations from kindergarten, grade school, middle school, high school, boot camp, black belts in karate, piano recitals, baseball championships, speech & debate champtionships, that were accompanied by braces, bumps & bruises, lots of rehearsals and practices, lots of lessons learned, lots of moves from city to city and state to state, plus two more precious grandsons came along, and the biggest of all -- Papa's graduation to heaven.

James 4:14 "You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  James sure did give us a "spoiler alert"!  He said our lives would be like a vapor that appears and then, just as quickly, vanishes!   That's a reality check -- especially for those of us who, in our 20s -- looked at the old folks (in their 50s) and thought, "They are so old!"  Now, we are past our 50s and "old folks" doesn't seem so old anymore!  LOL!

The fact is -- the length of our lives isn't based at all on quantity, but it's based on quality. This gift of life, however brief, should be spent living in such a way that the very One who created us will always look upon His investment as a "creation....well done"!  Rather than looking at how fast time goes by, wouldn't it be more productive to think....."How can I make the most of the time that I have?"  What if we put an exclamation point on every day we have?  An Exclamation Point is reserved for the accomplishments that excite our spirits and set our hearts on fire.  Living a humdrum life doesn't get an exclamation point.  Spending precious time complaining, whining, worrying, being cranky and cynical doesn't get an exclamation point.

Getting an exclamation point has everything to do with how we wake up each day.  Getting an exclamation point has something to do with "hitting-the-ground-running" each day.  There's just no time to be thinking about the good old days.  I love my memories.  I love these photos of my precious grandkids and husband from way back when.  But if I want an exclamation point at the end of each and every day, I need to to wake up saying "What can I do TODAY to leave a mark and a legacy?"  Here's what Exclamation Point recipients look like:

They have a life to live so they live it… EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have an assignment to complete…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have work to be done….. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a victory to achieve…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a devil to defeat…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a storm to calm…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a prayer to pray…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a promise to claim… EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a habit to conquer…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a temptation to overcome…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have an enemy to love…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a burden to lift…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a friend to help…. EXCLAMATION POINT!
They have a race to be won, EXCLAMATION POINT!

On a gravestone, it shows a date born, then a hyphen, then the date of death.  The hyphen represents all that person accomplished in their lifetime.  Quite frankly.....I'd like for mine to have on it.......
"DONNA LIVED.... EXCLAMATION POINT!!"