I want to challenge you all to share this message with your children, particularly the tween – teen ones. I have recently heard a lot of people very upset with the results of the most recent election. I have also heard some people complaining about their jobs, their school life and their church life.
My first thought was to console and counsel, but then I felt that little something inside that said, “No, wait a minute.” I stopped to listen and this is what I heard inside my heart. “Church, School, Work, Life and Everything are just what you make it. If you don’t like it, it’s your Church, School, Work, Life and Everything. You make it what it is or is not. If you are unhappy with it, don’t blame others and don’t blame Church, Work, School, Life or Everything. Blame you, because this is your view of the world and not anyone else’s. If it were really the fault of Church, Work, School, Life and Everything, then everyone would feel the same in each situation and since not everyone does, it is exactly what you make it.”
“Wow!” I thought. Startled by this “revelation” for about two seconds until I realized that this was not new information, it was only a new application of the same old truth: “Life is what you make it.” You are the master of the ship. Only you can decide if the world is bad or if it is good. Perhaps this adds up to more than the simple, trite answer of “Life is what you make it.” The deeper truth is that life just is. What you do with it is not always that simple. This is about what you will allow life to be, or in some cases, what you will refuse to let it be.
Why let the random events of life define our life? Why not define life by how we are willing to experience it. We can collect all of our challenges and point to that list and say, “There, you see, life is about challenges.” We can make a list of all of our many losses that we have experienced and say, “See there, life is about loss.” We could also look at all of our victories and blessings and say, “See there, life is about victory and blessings.” We could also look at all of our losses, and our gains, our challenges and our victories, and declare, “This is what life is. It is all things experienced and put together which define us, define our lives. We are not one thing, life is not one thing. Life is the up and the down the good and the evil, the wins and the losses. Life is the ability to experience, well; life, and accept it as such, while not allowing any certain moment or event to completely define our lives.”
Maybe it’s wise to let life be defined after it has been fully lived. Until then, accept the terms of life on life’s terms and live it. Don’t let the moment win or lose, let the moment be the moment and take its rightful place in the story of your life as a line or a sentence or a chapter. Life isn’t over, so it can’t be defined yet, so don’t try. Allow it play out. Your life still has a lot of living to do before it can be assigned a value. Go live it and let yourself be excited about what still lies ahead.
Blessings!

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