Live Like You were Dying, Week 1

So we just finished week one of our "Live Like You Were Dying" study and I must say, it got me thinking on some things. The whole week focused on what you would do if you were given 30 days to live. When I first thought of that question, my first reaction was that I would travel to some place warm, with sand. I wanna be by the water!!! And without a doubt, I would take my family. I want to be with those that I love and that love me most. At our small group on Wednesday night, the majority of the group said they would travel to places they had never seen before, and then there were the "sports guru's" that had college and NFL games they'd like to squeeze into 30 days and attend.



Another thing that was discussed in the book was to do a "gut check" and find some things that bother you that you just need to let go. When I thought about this, I honestly don't have any grudges that I'm holding against anyone (right now) and I'm not upset with anyone, it was more about things that just plain annoy me and how I sometimes let it annoy me so much to the point that I get angry about it. I am still working on figuring out how to let that one go!



Lastly, I thought a lot this week about how I connect and listen to what God is saying. Sometimes, it is hard to do this in the midst of kids screaming or talking nonstop but I found myself crying out to him for strength at one point this week. On Thursday, i took the kids to wal mart for just a few staple items. One of those items was diapers, so as we were in the diaper aisle, Gabby found something that had "Lightening McQueen", from the movie, "Cars" on it. Well, I know she meant well as she wanted to show Carson so she put it in the cart with him. By the way, Carson LOVES "Cars," this was not an item that I had on my "to buy" list so I had to take it away and put it on the shelf. This caused a huge uproar! You know, the kind you hear across the aisle when you're at the store and you start staring because it's so distracting? Yep, I was that mom on Thursday. So, I had one or two more things to get and while I quickly pushed the cart through Wal-Mart, Carson screamed at the top of his lungs the WHOLE time. As we approached the check out, the man asked Carson if he could place his yogurt on the belt so he could scan it. This only caused more screaming and I had to wrestle it away from Carson. He was soon holding his yogurt again but still screaming.

I quickly whisked both kids to the cart and put Carson in his car seat, still screaming. I know I didn't ever scold Gabby for putting the item into the cart but I did tell her, very sternly that she cannot just put things in the cart because Carson doesn't understand he can't have everything he wants. We finally got home and he continued screaming the whole way home. Once we got into the house Gabby disappeared upstairs and I just sat down on the couch with Carson and cried with him. As I sat there, I cried out to God, just asking him to help me get through the day because we still had 2 hours before Brad was even close to getting home. When I finally realized Gabby wasn't coming back down, I called for her and she came down. I finally got out of her that she thought I was mad at her so I explained what was going on and we cried a little more and finally were all able to get on with our day. I felt like God had taken the burden and held it for me. The rest of the day went o.k. but it felt great to get Brad home that night. It's not only in those times that I find myself connecting with God, I praise him in the good too but I share this story because you can talk to him in all kinds of circumstances. Sometimes what you have to share with him is a praise or a thank you for a blessing and sometimes it's just plain raw.

So, I leave you with a few of the questions that had my wheels turning this week.....

1. If you found out today you only had a month to live, what immediate changes would you make? Which of these could you make right now?

2. Do a serious gut check about what has a hold of your heart. What is one thing you need to let go of today?

3. How and where do you best hear from God?

Have a great week!