I’m Excited! How about you? ~ by Christina

I’m Excited! How about you? ~ by Christina

“… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

“God didn’t create us with such creativity, cultural diversity, and unique gifts and talents to go through the motions of a religious, boring life. As Christians, with the power of the Creator of the universe inside us, we should be living the most exciting, exhilarating lives on the planet!” ~ Christine Caine

I have to admit something that I am not proud of:  I used to think people were not being real when they always seemed to be happy, what seemed like, all the time.  My mother-in-law, Priscilla, was one of those people, that at first, I thought “there is no way this is who she really is”.  That’s what I thought, until she proved that thinking wrong.

Priscilla was a beautiful person, inside and out.  She would do most anything for people, and did little special things that just made life a better place.  There was a period of time when she would come to our house and watch our children while my husband and I went to work.  Every morning she would ring our doorbell and as she walked in the door she would exclaim in an expression of real joy, “I’m excited! How about you?”.  I wish I could say I replied every time with a pleasant response of excitement in return, but that’s just not true.  When I think back I remember some days finding myself irritated that she could be so joyful.  Isn’t it sad that I could react that way to something so pleasant?  Why couldn’t I see the beauty in what she was bringing to our household and to our children?  She was a precious treasure who modeled what it meant to be Christ-like.  She lived life well, and I learned a lot from her before she got to hear the words she longed to hear from her Lord and Savior, “well done, good and faithful servant”.

My son, Bruce, was good at living with excitement and passion, and to embrace a “non-boring” life.  I learned from him too.  He would make lists of things he wanted to do.  Simple desires and goals that brought him joy and excitement.  For example, we live in Florida and he wanted to see the sunrise and the sunset in the same day up close, so he made that happen.  He woke up early, jumped on his motorcycle, and watched the sunrise on the east coast. Then he took a beautiful drive with multiple stops to enjoy the journey, and drove to the west coast and watched the sunset.  When he shared about the details of his experience doing this, his emotion was nothing less than exhilarated joy!

The way we choose to think and live guides our outcomes.   Do we choose to be excited, or do we choose to be ho-hum “Debbie downers”? Many years ago, my daughter read somewhere about being life-givers, or life-takers.  She shared some of what she learned through that reading with me.  It made a lot of sense.  To summarize what stuck with me, is how as we go through our daily lives we can either speak life into people, or we can tear people down and squelch people’s dreams or excitement.  I’m guilty of being both a life-giver and a life-taker, but I can guarantee you my goal is to be a life-giver.  I want to come at life with passion that is shining through with exclamations of “Im’ excited! How about you?”  I want to be a person who lives joyfully and helps others to see “joy” in their lives.  Each of us have unique gifts, passions, creativity, and what we would describe as exciting.  Find the path that takes you to be the person who says and means “I’m excited! How about you?”

As we reflect on this, here are some thoughts on ways to help us strive to live an excited life:

  1. When you first wake up, praise God for another day and ask Him to lead you to find joy throughout the day ahead.
  2. Daily make a list of at least three ways you can fill a desire you have on each day and check it off in the evening before you go to sleep.
  3. Make short-term and long-term lists of things you desire to do and schedule them on your calendar!  Don’t back out-just do it!
  4. Open your eyes and see things with a positive viewpoint.  Look for examples of how God is putting things in place so you can be a life-giver.
  5. Learn from people around you.  Be aware of the ways your actions impact them, and their actions impact you and choose to be better.
  6. Consistently, hold onto the truths from God’s word and meditate on them.

 

 

 

8 Replies to “I’m Excited! How about you? ~ by Christina”

  1. Thank you Christina! We live in a crazy world and sometimes it is hard to see the joy each day. But there truly is joy simply in being given another day to be part of God’s amazing creation and praying for friend and family and so much more.

  2. You are such a life-giver for me, Chrissy. I adore you. I will send you a blog TODAY. This is a powerful movement. It will breathe life.

  3. This resonates so deeply in my heart. How often we live in the grind without intention or purpose? I want to live with that excitement and passion for life too! Thank you Christina for the willingness to be authentic and real.

    1. Thank you Kendra for your words of encouragement. Praying for both of us to live with that excitement and passion <3

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