Carpe Diem! Or to put it another way, Seize the Day! We have one life, God has designed us with a purpose, and it is our job to spend our lives discovering just what that purpose is.
True it will shift and change, but that is part of the adventure we get to call life!
Start At The Beginning
When we realize that the little things matter, this will make a major impact on our days. Getting up at a decent time, eating healthily, keeping our body in shape, etc. Practicing self discipline in the little things has a major influence on our lives!
We must be faithful in the small things in order to be assigned larger things to make a bigger difference! And this definitely makes sense. If we won’t bother ourselves with tiny things, why would slightly larger things matter?
But when we lay a good foundation and understand just how much the little things matter, we can begin to take things to the next level! And that should always be our goal, to take things to the next level. Anybody can be average or mediocre, but as God’s people, it is our duty to reflect Him well and be our best in every area of our lives! One excellent way to do this: Carpe Diem!
Embrace the Adventure
Things in life happen and when we learn to embrace the adventure and make the most of where God has us, our attitude shifts in the best way!
I remember reading a book awhile ago that mentioned changing your phraseology from “have to” to “get to“. The author’s point was instead of assigning dread to necessary things in life, you could switch the way you think about these things by understanding the blessing they are in your life. You get to wash dishes because you are blessed with a home-cooked, healthy meal. Or you get to take out garbage because you have a home that you want to keep tidy. And the list could go on and on.
Perspective is so powerful and when we figure out how to make the most of where God has us, we can really begin to embrace the adventure! Besides, from the outside looking in, I always admire and cheer on the woman who is fulfilling her role well, living enthusiastically and happily! I aspire to be her! On the other hand, those who mull about sighing make me tired.
The plain fact of life is that we don’t always get what we want. But when we begin to realize it’s all for a reason and that God has an incredible, intricate plan designed for each of us, we can lean in and enjoy the process knowing that our duty is to reflect Him well in all areas of our life. Carpe Diem!
Anticipate What’s Ahead
Get excited! That hope in your heart, that dream that you keep to yourself, it is there for a reason! Let me tell you something enormous, something you might not hear from many others: contentment and complacency are two very different things. Read that again!
Contentment says that you can be at peace and thrive wherever God has you, while you also pursue what’s next. Complacency says things are a certain way and it’s ungrateful to want anything you don’t have. Don’t let anyone spoil your dreams or your days telling you it’s wrong to work towards or look forward to what’s ahead. Maybe they don’t have the vision, but that doesn’t mean they limit God.
Jeremiah says, as we know so well, “For I know the plans I have for you…“. Why would God bother with plans if we weren’t allowed and encouraged to look ahead?! Why would He “set eternity in our hearts” if we weren’t to investigate and search things out? What part of “ask, seek, knock” involves settling where we are and not pursuing our next adventure?
Contentment is vital in life, absolutely! But you can be 100% content while also pressing forward. I think of contentment rather as bold surrender. We boldly step forward, while at the same time surrendering our affections to what God has for us. We can claim the hope in our heart and the dreams that we have – as long as they are in line with God’s Word and God’s Way – and see where He leads. Carpe Diem!
Honor God Well
Whatever we do, we are to do it with our whole heart – this honors God well!
I came across something the other day which really spoke to my hope and my heart. A lady was sharing how she loved climbing mountains and that was her hobby. She would travel the world going to different countries, training and climbing mountains – a real mountain climbing enthusiast. She had a dream of getting married and hadn’t really met anyone that things had worked out with, so she kept working and kept climbing mountains.
As she got older, and still no man was in her life, she asked God if He wasn’t going to bring her and her husband together yet, would He please give her another mountain to climb, a new adventure to pursue while she waited for her dream. And God did! Somehow a new mountain climbing opportunity would pop up out of seemingly nowhere when she would think she had climbed all the mountains on her list. So while she waited for the adventure of her dreams, she enjoyed the adventures of her mountain climbing hobby.
I can’t help but think that attitude, that joy and contentment for where God had her, honored God well. And I want to challenge both you and I as we wait for the dream God has given us, to honor God well. To enjoy the journey, the process, that is taking us through this adventure we call life!
Honor God well, pray about the dream, and ask God that He might send you another “mountain” while you wait for what He has for you. Our days are precious, one day we will look back and miss this time. I want to be sure that I thoroughly enjoyed where God had me in the meantime!
Carpe Diem!
Hope.
PS. Keep reading: https://www.theamericanlady.com/2017/10/25/cultivate-lara-casey/