Living Like There’s No Tomorrow

I know that’s easy for me to say. I’ve long passed raising a family, working a full-time job and lots of other responsibilities. But having the grands with me has sure reminded me of what it takes to feed, nurture, wash their clothes, plan their days and activities, and keep them busy enough to not be glued to their phones social media and gaming. It’s a work-out and I feel you, moms and dads. I once was there right with you. Well, maybe not with the cell phone activities, but I did know it was a work out to keep them entertained. I don’t ever hear: “I’m so bored” these days, like I heard when raising my children. There are so many options when traveling or just waiting for us.

Still, as long as I have these grandchildren with me, I’m “living like there’s no tomorrow”! Making memories, being silly, playing games, eating at their favorite restaurants, cooking their favorite meals, etc. I’ll admit I’m running out of options so those phones come in handy when I’m writing my next day’s blog.

The boys wanted me to see the new Spiderman and so we went on Saturday. Confession: I’m a Spiderman fan. I like his youth and innocence, his courage and the fact that a youth is the superhero. Spoiler Alert – if you haven’t seen it yet (and, believe me, it’s worth seeing)! Spider Man and his high school buddies do some major globe-hopping. They make it to Venice and I recall the precious memory of my husband and I celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary there. Riding in a gondola (like Spiderman and his buddies), we called home to our children. Another scene was in Berlin and a flashback came of us with our backpacks traveling via ferry, taxi on the autobahn, and the train and into Berlin (one of our rare “flying by the seat of our pants” adventure). Another scene was in Holland and I recalled to the boys that I was there with my friends at the Tulip Festival.

I titled this blog “Living Like There is No Tomorrow” and I realize that I/we have done that – in the meager times when we’d go camping in tents, roasting marshmallows and fishing with our young children to make memories and moments count. The trip to Sweden, Denmark and Germany came as a result of my husband winning an 8-day all-expense-paid trip – a true blessing from God and my husband’s winning putt at an LPGA tournament contest. We lived like there was no tomorrow by being willing to back-pack to places we had never been before and my trip to Holland was an adventure with friends.

Having this precious time with my grandchildren is a change from my normal and comfortable routine, but living like there is no tomorrow means making every minute count in this day. I’m doing that today. We are heading back to Austin to spend several days celebrating my son’s birthday. We will laugh, eat, reminisce and celebrate his life. We’ll live and celebrate like there is no tomorrow. That's just the way our family rolls.

My encouragement to you is to join me in living like there is no tomorrow. Maybe, not so much with the need to travel to distant locations, but to live with no regrets. Live now like there is no tomorrow. Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?” explains that we have no guarantee of tomorrow because we don't know when it’s time for us to leave earth. We are famous for postponing things where we shouldn't. Our schedules may be busy, but making time for things and people that matter – in the light of eternity.

Today’s blog motive is an encouragement to us to live everyday like there's no tomorrow. Tomorrow just may not come – it didn’t for my sweet grandfather who went to bed beside his beloved wife and never woke up. It didn’t for those in the Twin Towers on 9/11 who went to their routine job and never saw another day. Don’t postpone anything, do it now. Don’t stress over little or big things – like my guest bathroom toilet overflowing yesterday. Breathe, get the plunger, clean up the mess... and let it go. Choose love over anger and hate. Spend time with God – getting right with Him – settling once and for all “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Since God is in control, and we’re not – we can make choices to be happy, to smile, laugh, use wisdom when we speak, and answer with love. Living this day and every day like there is no tomorrow.

Bored? Climb a Mimosa Tree!

“I’m so bored!” Famous words from kids during their summer vacation even with all the technology gadgets they own – they still get weary from the same-o, same-o!

Did you complain of boredom when you were a kid? I did. My Mom’s reply to that – “Go outside and play. Make some soup.” WHAT? Oh, I knew what she meant. She wanted me to go outside because that's where we had lots of "play-grounds and play-gyms" that resolved boredom by offering great opportunities for imagination and adventures. My playground and gym was a mimosa tree in our front yard that I climbed and pretended I was in a fortress from all my enemies and when I got hungry, I made a delicious soup to share with my friends.

Those memories came back to me when we were at Beaver’s Bend this spring and mimosa trees were everywhere. I pointed them out to my grands! I still think a mimosa is the prettiest tree in the world. Its leaves are like ferns. Its flowers are pink puffballs. And it blooms in summer when few other trees do and when the puffballs fade, the tree grows hundreds of 6-inch long, bean-like, brown seedpods which hang from every branch.

As I said, not only did we climb my tree and ward off evil pirates from my “tree ship”, but we would take the bean pods from it and break it up into a big pot. We’d add the leaves, seeds, pods, and flowers from it, and add a little dirt for seasoning. Then, we pretended to cook it and enjoy our scrumptious pot of mimosa stew! BTW – I just found out in writing this post for today, that we could have actually boiled up the flowers for a real mimosa healthy drink. Both its flowers and bark were traditionally used as a sedative, specifically for calming and lifting one's spirit. HOLY MOLY! I could use a jug of it right now in dealing with my Animal Kingdom here in Austin!

We also pretended to be school teachers and mothers and sometimes we did some things that required bravery – like riding our bicycles with no hands or jumping off the high diving board. Sometimes our imaginations went too far. I’ll never forget the trouble my friend and I got into when we wanted a swimming pool and dug an 8 ft X 8 ft X 1 ft hole in my backyard. We were caught when we were adding water to “our luxurious mud pit”.

I’ll bet you can remember some wild and crazy adventures when you were a kid. Those adventures sure did break up the boredom. I talked about adventures in my post yesterday and it seems I’m on a soapbox for living life to the fullest, with no room for boredom. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you change and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” What exactly does that mean….especially when you’re as “mature” as I am? Of course, God wants us to come before Him as children, because children are innocent, and trust with a pure heart. To go before God as a child is to go with wide-eyed wonder that comes from total faith. Our Heavenly Father – our great Creator was an Adventurer par excellence (just think about all the adventures He directed His kids into – water-walking, water-parting, boat rides on stormy seas, giants tumbling with a mere stone from a shepherd boy’s sling, falling into pits and landing up in a palace). It sure seems like, as His children, it should be just “natural” to be adventure seekers because of the childlike faith we possess.

Here’s the thing -- God didn’t create us for boredom! We are always being “pushed” to be more, do more, experience more, celebrates more, live life larger than ever before. Here’s another GREAT verse. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even GREATER things than these because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

So, why sit in the recliner of boredom, complacency, and idleness when there's so much to see, so much greater things to do and so much to experience? This world is the greatest "playground". Why should we be "dead men and women walking", instead of people who are alive, imaginative, creative AND adventurous? I’m already planning my next adventure. How about you?

Go Outside and Make Soup

“I’m so bored!” Famous words from kids during their summer vacation. Did you complain of boredom when you were a kid? I did. My Mom’s reply to that – “Go outside and make soup.” WHAT? Oh, I knew what she meant. She wanted me to go outside and play, because that's where we had lots of "play grounds" that resolved boredom. Playgrounds that offered great imagination and adventures. We had a Mimosa tree in our front yard. We kids would take the bean pods from it and break it up into a big bowl. We’d add the leaves, seeds, pods and flowers from it and other trees, and add a little dirt for seasoning. We didn’t eat it, but we had so much fun pretending we were cooks. That little pretend scenario was one of many we imagined. We pretended to be school teachers, and sometimes we did some things that required bravery – like riding our bicycles – no hands, or climbing trees to get into our "club house". Sometimes our imagination went too far. I’ll never forget the trouble my friend and I got into when we wanted a swimming pool and dug an 8 foot by 8 foot by 1 foot hole in my backyard. We were finally caught when we were adding water to “our pit”. I’ll bet you can remember some wild and crazy adventures when you are a kid. Those adventures sure did break up monotony and boredom.

Even more so as adults, we know that adventures break up monotony and the same oh, same oh routines. That’s why our family loves fishing in lakes, ponds AND in oceans.

"Boredom” isn’t a word used in my vocabulary any more. I seem to be flying by the seat of my pants….quite regularly. In a moment’s notice, you might find me hitting the road to go see my kids in Texas, or taking off to a fun location or venue with friends, or volunteering for yet another ministry outreach.

Here’s the thing -- God didn’t create us for boredom! In John 10:10, Jesus said “I have come to give you LIFE, and LIFE more abundantly!” The question is “Are we taking Him up on His offer?”
We are always being “pushed” to be more, do more, experience more, celebrate more, live life larger than ever before. Here’s another great verse. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing and they will do EVEN GREATER things than these because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

So, why sit in the pit of boredom, complacency, and idleness when there's so much to see, so much to do and so much to experience? This world is the greatest ";playground". Why be "dead men and women walking", instead of people who are alive, imaginative, creative AND adventureous? After all, this ABUNDANT LIFE is ready for us to enjoy it to the fullest.