I CHOOSE LIFE



A Rose from my mother's rose garden.

 This is the evening before my 42nd birthday! I have SO many thoughts going through my head at the moment. So I thought I would take a moment to reflect. DeLynn and Carmelinda are on a date, so it's nice to have the house quiet.


I just got done reading last night a Karen Kingsbury book, Tuesday Morning, and Beyond Tuesday Morning. It was actually two books in one. It had to do with the September 11th happenings, when the twin towers were hit, ten years ago now. I love to read, and this time I wanted to read a book that I knew would encourage and challenge me but that was also a book I wouldn't be able to put down quickly!

Out of the whole book, the words that spoke to me the most were, "CHOOSE LIFE."

It comes from the verse Deuteronomy 30:19, "....I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

I found out that if I choose life, my life will be the TOTAL opposite than if I choose death. God has given all of us that choice. Life and death are inevidible in this earthly life, but in heaven, there will ONLY be LIFE! That's what I want. But in order to be able to experience that after death on earth, I must choose life here on earth.

I've been noticing that lately and even after many years my thoughts have been more about death than life. Perhaps it's because of the death of my grandmother due to cancer (on my mom's side), or my grandfather I never met, due to a traffic accident (on my dad's side), or because of my two favorite uncles, Uncle Phil (who died of a logging accident) and Uncle Mike (who died in a drowing accident) , who both had a huge impact on my life, or maybe because of the death of my precious mother, who died of a brain tumor, or perhaps of some death of dreams that have happened over the years. All of those deaths have had impact on me that have blinded and clouded me to see LIFE at times.

So how to I choose life? Well, today for example, my plan was to stay in bed ALL day! Because we're moving to a new house, I packed all day yesterday and just didn't have the energy to get out of bed today! I felt like I really didn't have a reason to get out of bed, the packing could wait! I shared with DeLynn the trouble I was having in looking at this day as a day I wasn't looking forward to. DeLynn, being the motivator that he is (thank God), encouraged me and planned my day, which included a date, getting out of the house and NO packing! It was just what I needed. DeLynn said, "Gloria, you are choosing life today!"

It sounds simple, but I know this isn't an easy process. But it's one that I can learn and teach Carmelinda! Not only am I giving life to myself but to my family. But I HAVE to continue to listening to HIS voice and to hold tightly to HIS promises. I want GOD to be my LIFE!