Live it Up

What a month… We are currently boxing up our house to move into a new one, the new baby is kicking harder than ever, Justin and Grace are about to get married, my little eight-month-old buddy Dylan has got some rocking new teeth, five awesome kids just got baptized, another awesome kid just met Christ, everyday I am more and more excited to come home to the girl I love and Michael Phelps just dominated water (which, let’s not forget is one of the elements) for like the millionth time. Whoa. My head is still spinning!

I guess it just feels like life is all around me. Everywhere I turn there seems to be this excitement and activity. Every night after the kids are in bed I can’t wait to tune in to the Olympics and watch greatness on parade along with the rest of the eyes in the world… just amazed at what humans can do. Pretty soon we’ll be sitting up on the hill on Friday nights cheering on the Wildcats underneath stadium lights and forgetting that we’re not in high school anymore. Then folks will be gathering at a neighbor’s house on Saturday afternoons to grill out in their orange t-shirts and watch the Vols, including themselves in this team of elite athletes by referring to them as “we.” I just love this time of year… school is back in session, which means that for those of us in Young Life, it’s go time. We’re back at the school too, just looking for folks who need Jesus and haven’t yet heard about this great love.

It’s weird. I feel like a little kid… I feel like Anna seemed to feel the other day when we told her we were going to the zoo! I mean, she was over the moon with excitement. She couldn’t have been happier if I had told her that we owned the zoo! I just feel like I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and see what it is that God has for us… I’m actually so worked up that I can’t sleep… see, as I type this it’s almost 11:00 PM and I should be in bed, but I’m all filled up with I don’t know what! Excitement… expectation… life!

In John 10 Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” All around us God is doing amazing things… just this month a really hardcore guy met Jesus at the Anderson County jail because of Tom’s preaching and even though you didn’t know about it, all of heaven was having a party! All around us there are new marriages, new heartbeats and fresh new starts. Sure, there are tons of not-so-happy things around us as well, but God reigns over them and is working them all out for good. We’ve only got this one life to live in joy. We’ve only got this one ‘fall of 2008’ to wake up excited and live expectantly. We’ve only this one day to trust God and live life to the full. It’s why Jesus came… it’s what He paid for and all around us, it’s happening. Life… real life, new life and full life is coming at you. Why not decide today to live it up?