Questions, Questions
Hey My Friends!!!! Hope all is well and you are enjoying today.
A little chilly today after many days of warm weather! Took two shorter walks today. Had to have my gloves and warm hat on. Was cold but I made it and always value a little time out to talk to God, think about life and enjoy being outdoors.
Do you ever think about the value of life? What are we supposed to be doing day to day? Am I doing something that makes a little difference in the world? Does my life matter?
To be honest I have thought about that and often felt that I was falling short or not really making much of a difference. I worked on that idea for many years and my 50’s were great years. I stated working with Hope Fellowhip leading a new ministry called ReGeneration. We worked specifically with men and women who were struggling with life in many ways. It was a 12-14 month journey, and I saw significant healing and growth happening in individual lives. Along with leading that ministry, I provided counseling at Hope and also started working with a very special counseling group.
Life was good. I was probably working too much, but I felt like my life mattered…I was finally locked into the man God had been preparing me to be!
Then, Novemeber 20, 2020 my life changed course and started a journey I had not planned on or ever expected!!!!
Don’t ever want any of you to think poor Todd or that I am doing something special. Dealing with the reality that my life is coming to an end sooner than expected is life. There are hundreds of different ways that cancer and other health areas end lives.
For me the big idea has been, I can “live this out as well as possible” or “sit, whine and groan about how unfair my life is.” We all have choices each day…“How will we live today?”
All of this is back to what to do with our lives. What do we do that feels like our life matters?
I think about that often. This brain tumor has forced me to look at my life with a different perspective.
I believe early in this journey, I have consistently focused on one thing! “We are each, Loved and of Great Value.”
Many of the things I have done for others, is very different. I have been on the other side and have needed others. And in many different ways, I continue to remind people they are “loved and of great value.”
When I look at old journals, I was very aware of this reality. I sat with God each day and thought of being more of this man. I knew as this man, I could spend my work and life to help others understand this truth. The way I was trying to be this man, the brain tumor, a month of radiation and chemo therapy, the major brain surgery and then 12 more months of chemo… those were a game changer. The one constant area I have tried to develop was to remind people, again that they are '“loved and of great value.”
None of this was my plan for life. But what do I do with it?
I want to remind you again. Life can be and will be challenging. I want each of you to see the blessing and reality of a beautiful life. A life that helps you and I believe that God is needed to be present and to love us through those hard days. A beautiful truth that helps us each know we are LOVED!!!
Never ever forget that YOU are LOVED and of GRATEFUL VALUE!!!!
It’s a game changer!!!!