A short phrase popped into my head the other day...and it's been rolling around and around ever since:
TAKE THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HANDED...AND LIVE THAT LIFE.
Interesting idea.
What that statement says to me is..."Missy Kim, open your arms, stretch out your hands, receive the life story that has been handed to you...then close those fists, pull that story to your chest, embrace it...and live it...live THAT life story...the life story in your hands...and no other."
I personally think that's a great idea. But what happens when the life story in my hands...isn't what i wanted...or expected...or planned? What happens when i don't like my life's story? When the plot thickens and the characters turn grumpy? When the visit to the Drs leaves me with yet another twist to my adventure? What happens when the sun was supposed to shine but it rained instead...and that rain did not stop for a long, long time? How do i live that life story well? How do i even want to?
Those deep questions will take me hours of pondering...much time in meditation...multiple prayers...days in the WORD...and me... seeking sound advice from women far wiser than i.
All right...so let's get started. I have an idea! Let's ask Kara Tippetts! Oh wait...we can't...she's dead.
I know very little about Kara story, but what i do know has left an impression on me. It seems our dear sister Kara had learned the secrets to TAKING THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HANDED...AND LIVING THAT LIFE.
Kara had 4 sweet babies...and a loving husband when she left this world on March 22, 2015 after a long battle with cancer. Kara, armed with a passion for writing and a love for her JESUS bravely recorded the journey she was handed in a blog entitled Mundane Faithfulness. Kara, it seems lived the life she was handed right up until the end...and she lived it well. Here is a quote from Kara written just before her death:
"My little body has grown tired of battle, and treatment is no longer helping. But what I see, what I know, what I have is Jesus. He has still given me breath, and with it I pray I would live well and fade well. By degrees doing both, living and dying, as I have moments left to live. I get to draw my people close, kiss them and tenderly speak love over their lives. I get to pray into eternity my hopes and fears for the moments of my loves. I get to laugh and cry and wonder over Heaven. I do not feel like I have the courage for this journey, but I have Jesus—and He will provide. He has given me so much to be grateful for, and that gratitude, that wondering over His love, will cover us all. And it will carry us—carry us in ways we cannot comprehend. "
I never asked Kara...but i'm pretty sure dying of cancer at 38 and leaving behind a young family wasn't in her plans. I'm guessing losing her hair and enduring painful treatments wasn't her expected journey. I'm shooting in the dark here but i believe Kara had other ideas about what her life story would look like.
Once when i prayed for Kara i said "LORD, YOU can do a miracle."
To which HE gently replied "I did."
TAKE THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HANDED...AND LIVE THAT LIFE. Kara did.
TAKE THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HANDED...AND LIVE THAT LIFE.
Interesting idea.
What that statement says to me is..."Missy Kim, open your arms, stretch out your hands, receive the life story that has been handed to you...then close those fists, pull that story to your chest, embrace it...and live it...live THAT life story...the life story in your hands...and no other."
I personally think that's a great idea. But what happens when the life story in my hands...isn't what i wanted...or expected...or planned? What happens when i don't like my life's story? When the plot thickens and the characters turn grumpy? When the visit to the Drs leaves me with yet another twist to my adventure? What happens when the sun was supposed to shine but it rained instead...and that rain did not stop for a long, long time? How do i live that life story well? How do i even want to?
Those deep questions will take me hours of pondering...much time in meditation...multiple prayers...days in the WORD...and me... seeking sound advice from women far wiser than i.
All right...so let's get started. I have an idea! Let's ask Kara Tippetts! Oh wait...we can't...she's dead.
I know very little about Kara story, but what i do know has left an impression on me. It seems our dear sister Kara had learned the secrets to TAKING THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HANDED...AND LIVING THAT LIFE.
Kara had 4 sweet babies...and a loving husband when she left this world on March 22, 2015 after a long battle with cancer. Kara, armed with a passion for writing and a love for her JESUS bravely recorded the journey she was handed in a blog entitled Mundane Faithfulness. Kara, it seems lived the life she was handed right up until the end...and she lived it well. Here is a quote from Kara written just before her death:
"My little body has grown tired of battle, and treatment is no longer helping. But what I see, what I know, what I have is Jesus. He has still given me breath, and with it I pray I would live well and fade well. By degrees doing both, living and dying, as I have moments left to live. I get to draw my people close, kiss them and tenderly speak love over their lives. I get to pray into eternity my hopes and fears for the moments of my loves. I get to laugh and cry and wonder over Heaven. I do not feel like I have the courage for this journey, but I have Jesus—and He will provide. He has given me so much to be grateful for, and that gratitude, that wondering over His love, will cover us all. And it will carry us—carry us in ways we cannot comprehend. "
I never asked Kara...but i'm pretty sure dying of cancer at 38 and leaving behind a young family wasn't in her plans. I'm guessing losing her hair and enduring painful treatments wasn't her expected journey. I'm shooting in the dark here but i believe Kara had other ideas about what her life story would look like.
Once when i prayed for Kara i said "LORD, YOU can do a miracle."
To which HE gently replied "I did."
TAKE THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HANDED...AND LIVE THAT LIFE. Kara did.