Thrive Rich in Mercy

Join with me in a passionate adventure of living. In the Bible we read over and over that Jesus was adventurous. Talk about adventure; the disciples left everything to join Jesus in His extraordinary adventure. When things turned out differently from what they first grasped, many followers fell away. Jesus looked at His most faithful followers and asked,"Will you also go away?" John 6:67. The faithful twelve and a few others wouldn't budge.

I'm reading a wonderful old book by Paul Tournier, The Adventures of Living. In my quest to thrive in my life...not just live, I am finding great insights in this book such as, "....being made in the image of God that man throws himself so eagerly into all the adventures God opens up before him....not only religious adventures such as those I have referred to, but all the others: the adventures of science, of the exploration of earth and sky, of art, of culture and philosphy. It is the adventure of God itself which is being worked out in every human adventure. The Bible is the book of adventure and must be read as such. Not only the adventure of the world and of humanity, but the personal adventure of each man and woman whom God touches, calls and sends into action. The Bible also gives adventure its true meaning, for from end to end it reveals what is at stake in all our work, all our activity, all our choices, and all our self-commitment."

Recently my husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. He only lived for a month after that devastating diagnosis day. Most of that month I lived in the hospital with him. The value of being alive has become so precious to me after this ordeal. A cancer counselor talked with us when we thought he still had some hope of recovery. She was a cancer survivor and she said we needed to ask ourselves two main questions. 1. What can I learn from this? 2. What will I do with what I learn from this in the rest of my life? This blog is part of my answer. I am committed to truly living all of the life that is mine from this point on. I want to thrive adn vibrantly live my life embracing its full adventure. When I'm not inspired on my own, I will do it for all those cancer patients I recall on that oncology floor, including my husband. On my worst day, they would gladly exchange places with me and embrace this day with vigor.

I pray to thrive, not just survive or sorta' live. Because this is my focus, all little things that previously might have bored me have taken on a new relevance. I awakened today and meant it when I said, "Good Morning!"

So today with all that isn't best, I'm grabbing this day with gusto. I have all reason to believe that this is a thriving day; not because of me, but because of the mercy of God. I have been made ALIVE in Christ.

May we all thrive from housewives to CEO's and all in between.