A Journey from Surviving to Thriving

      I wake up most mornings thanking God for another shiny new marble and look forward to the day ahead!  And most of those days are good. Unfortunately, on occasion the marble is a bit cloudy — and the day simply doesn’t go right.  This post is about making that cloudy marble shine again. Obviously a quick back story is warranted here.  As shared in an earlier post (Post #3), about eight years into this medical Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) journey, I read of a man who studied the actuarial tables and determined by those actuarial standards how many days he had yet to live.  He then purchased a large glass jar and a number of marbles equal to the number of his remaining days and placed that glass jar with the marbles in his basement workroom.  Each morning thereafter he’d go down to his basement workroom and remove a marble from that glass jar, thank God for that day, and ask God to help him use that day for His glory.   In my case, at the start of this medical journey, the

It’s been said, “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.”   This got me thinking: just what are the lessons I’ve learned in life and how have they helped me thrive?  The purpose of this post is to crystalize some of those lessons — some that we’ve learned while on the current medical journey as we seek to move from surviving to thriving; others are from our life’s journey in general.   Life is a continuous learning experience.  Some lessons learned come from God as the Holy Spirit speaks to us in a quiet moment.  Other lessons may be learned from a good book or a valued friend.  Still others may be learned from those inevitable times when we step into one of those ugly potholes in our pathway of life.  Anyway one cuts it, there is much to be learned if our minds are calibrated to learning.  As an unknown author has said, “ Develop a passion for learning.  If you do, you will never cease to grow.”   I believe God fully e

You’ve experienced it —a verse jumps off the page of your Bible and grabs your heart in a memorable way.   That recently happened to me,   Let me tell you about it. But I need to first give you the short back-story.  For lots of followers of Jesus, there are times when the thrill and anticipation of Scripture seems to become a bit less exciting, somewhat ho-hum and rather dull — and one’s prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and go no farther  This recently happened to me and I did what I normally do in situations like this — I immerse myself in music and/or switch to a different biblical translation.   Good music has always been very inspiring and comforting to me.  I get caught up in the passion of the musician and again get excited about my time with the Lord.  For example, a friend recently sent me this song which has been very meaningful to me.  I thought you might want to enjoy it with me.  I Speak Jesus, by Charity Gayle.   In fact I keep a list of my favorite songs on my iP

But what was that illusive “something”?   In my previous post I described my feelings of “living in the margin” of my previous organization while adjusting to a new role that involved stepping out of some leadership responsibilities — and felt like I was “on the outside looking in” as my life and day-to-day purpose as I knew it was ending.  But then “something” rose up within me and an awareness gripped me that life was not ending, but indeed was just beginning with new purpose.  At that point I seriously suspected that if that “something” had not been gradually personalized through the years, life for me at that moment might indeed have been over.   The purpose of this post is to explore that “something” and whether or not I can thrive in that state of mind. Please note: I’m using the term “margin” in a manner different from what was popularized by Richard Swenson in his book Margin in which he describes margin as “…having breath left at the top of the staircase, money left at the

"Marginalized, I muttered under my breath as I tossed the new headquarters policy memo onto my desk.  Several years ago I would have been the one to write that policy memo.  Now in my almost-retired years, I seldom even heard of these new policies.  I was drifting deeply into despair as I visualized my position on the margin of all that was happening in my organization.  I felt like my life as I’ve known it was ending.  But then something rose up within me and an awareness gripped me that life was not ending, but indeed was just beginning with new purpose.  I seriously suspect that if that “something” had not been gradually personalized through the years, life for me at that moment would indeed have been over.  What was that “something”" ? The above paragraph is from my book, From a Dad … to Those Who Follow.   As I reread these words I realize there is probably more to be deeply explored about this concept of living in the margin. That’s the plan for the next two-part post.

Several posts ago, one of you, my Dear Readers, suggested  that it might be interesting to explore what “gives life” to our daily journey.  I agree and this post is to respond to your suggestion.  What gives life probably varies with each person.  That’s OK — God designed each of us differently.  Yet there is probably some commonality among us such that we can learn from each other and appreciate together the life that God gives to each of us.  So let’s learn together. Marilyn and I are getting our heads together here to list the activities, thoughts, and attitudes that bring us life.  We want to share them with you and are hoping you’ll respond back with what brings life into your journey. But first, just what is a “life-giving activity”?  Ultimately, of course, God is the one who gives life.  But He often also leads us into activities that give a sense of really living.  The dictionary says “a ‘life-giving’ activity is whatever gives or has the power to give life and spirit; whatever