Beyond Mediocrity

When my days on earth are done, I wonder what my first experience in heaven will be like. Will I see "the tunnel of light" that many near-deathers have reported? Will it be like the cartoon where you just appear at the outskirts of heaven waiting in line at the pearly gates? Or will I have to endure the heavenly movie "This was Your Life"? That would be depressing.

I do periodically reflect on if I am wasting any of my time. Is this blog really making a difference? Am I actually connecting to the people God has placed around me. Am I stuff focused or spirit focused? Temporal or eternal?

I think that the searching out of the heart is like a wake up call to shake off all those things that don't matter. Once I spent more than ten hours over five days trying to deal with a bank over the phone. What great memories! I'm sure my wife thinks back to that week and says to herself, "Oh, what a great week that was, cooking supper, chasing children, and watching Johnie shuffle bank statements while pressing a phone to his ear." Shirley Dobson wrote a book called Let's Make a Memory. When I remember that week I want to say, "Let's make up a memory! That one's pitiful!"

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I know from experience that just getting up, going through the motions, and then kissing that day goodbye just isn't good enough! Lately I've been trying to connect with the people around me, whoever they are. And I'm finding myself caring about them! Some of these same people were the reason I wanted to quit my job a couple of years ago. Now I want them to find the hope that I have found!

I try to make the most of the time with my kids, too. When they ask me to look at their drawings, it's not an annoyance - it's a blessing! I mean, when I weigh "paying the bills" against "making my daughters day", it's not really a hard decision. Which one will have more of an impact? The bills will always be there, but my kids won't. My oldest is 7 years away from the age Joyce was when we got engaged. I'm not saying it will happen the same way, but I can't take that risk. I sure don't want to be whispering "rosebud" on my deathbed. I want NO regrets.

The main reason I write this blog is that I want to see others discover their Creator, and to see that He's is working all around us! Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21) That is where God wants to sit as king. I just see it as beneficial to share what God has been teaching me. I sure don't write it because I'm all that.

This life is about God. God wants us to look for Him, find Him, and become His friend. And if we spend our time doing anything else, we miss out and we wonder when we'll find OUR calling and OUR purpose. I don't care if you clean the floors at a nursing home, which by the way is a really grungy job, even there God wants us to look for Him. Do you see Him in the eyes of others?

"Give and it will come back to you, pressed down shaken together and running over."


--Johnie