Top 5 things I’m thankful for today:

1. My family. I have two beautiful, smart daughters that I am super proud of. They both make me smile everyday and I’m so glad that I get to be their mom. I have a wonderful husband. He loves me beyond anything I could have ever imagined. He did so many things for me that I never even noticed until these past few weeks.
2. My friends. I cannot even believe the amount of support our friends have showed us during this new journey. It is not just the meals, but it is the prayers, the hugs, the texts. The escape to a movie, picking up a cup of coffee for me. Little things done out of love that I will never be able to repay. The hands and feet of God have been shown to our family.
3. The internet. Sounds kind of cheesy, but the internet makes it so much easier to keep everyone up to date on what is going on without having to rehash it every time I’m on the phone. Facebook, Caringbridge.org, even this blog. They all allow me to share the story without feeling overwhelmed.
4. Rain. After all we do live in Texas. We are expecting a fair amount of rain this weekend which we have not seen in several months. I pray that the rain will not lead to flooding, but instead will refresh the land, replenish the lakes, and cool things off so that we can enjoy some Fall like weather.
5. My Faith. I am tired tonight. But I know that God does not grow tired or weary. I can lean on Him. Although I may not understand what is going on around me, He is everlasting and loves me. When I am tired, God will give me rest.

Today’s verse comes from Matthew 11:28

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

October 21, 2015. The day Marty McFly visited in the ‘future’.

We all wanted to believe that there would be hover boards available by now. But, low there are no hover boards like Marty used. Nor are there Nike shoes that fit to your foot by pressing a button (that would actually be very handy for me, but that is a whole other story).

If you were a child of the 80’s you have likely seen the movies and waited patiently for October 21, 2015. It was all over the internet today. It is an unofficial (or maybe an official) Michael J. Fox day for many of us.

On my drive today, I was really hoping to see a DeLorean. But that did not happen 🙁

At the end of the third movie Marty asks Doc about a blank piece of paper that he brought back from the future. Doc explains to Marty “It means your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it.”

So how I am going to tie this into a bible verse? If we look at  Matthew 6:34 from the Message:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t Get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

We don’t need a time machine to take us to the future. In fact, we need to only focus on what is going on right now. Do not get worked up about the future. The future is unwritten. But if we stay close to God, he will help us when the time comes.

Sorry for the duplicate verse today, but Happy Back to the Future Day! (And I’m pretty bummed that it doesn’t look good for the Cubs to win the World Series)

Do you have Passion Envy? I used to think I did.

Websters defines passion as “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.”

It seems like everyone is passionate about something. Just open up Google and type in something you are interested in like Coffee and then add the word blog to it. Most likely you will find many sites related to the subject (here is what I found when I searched coffee blog, about 286,000 results).

Everyone wants to have a passion and share their passion.

But what if you haven’t found your passion, or worse (gasp) don’t have a passion? (You can even find hundreds of blogs about that too).

This morning I’m sitting on my back deck, drinking coffee (that I have not blogged about) and wondering once again if there is something I’m passionate about.

I think my problem is the word itself. It evokes such a strong sense of “what am I DYING to share with the world?” The word itself intimidates me.

There are so many things that I love. But I have been a very private person most of my life. Some would say quiet, some would say introvert. But I don’t usually share all of the details of my life. In this world of social media there is the tendency to overshare. I saw a great cartoon about this yesterday. A waiter asked a couple if there was a problem with their food, they looked puzzled and the second caption said “you haven’t posted a picture of your meal.”

While there are things that I am passionate about I hold them close to my heart so as not to lose the importance of them.

I have friends who are very good at sharing their passions. I have even gotten involved with direct marketing companies because my friends are passionate (currently I use essential oils through a direct marketing company. I love the products but I’m not passionate about sharing it with everyone I know, maybe that’s the introvert in me).

There are times when I wish I could exude the passion for some of these things and “Find my Why.” But that has been ever elusive.

This morning as I sit outside enjoying this “fall morning” (I use the quotes because we are in Texas and I’m enjoying my coffee while wearing a light jacket because it is 52 degrees, but later today it will be 85 and I will be in shorts) I realize that my “Why” died on a cross for me. I’m not here to share about the best cup of coffee that I ever had. I’m here to show the world what it means to  love and be loved.

Today’s verse of inspiration comes from Matthew 25:23

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

It is the “well done, good and faithful servant” that I am after. I want to hear those words at the end of my journey.

So I guess my passion is to live a life well lived and to share that with others.

What is your passion?