What does it take to be admirable? I suppose we all have different views on this. I am, however, noticing that my perception of what is admirable in people is beginning to shift. External qualities, I am discovering, are not qualifying factors to make a person admirable. At my almost 30 years of life, I am realizing that the value of humanity relies on the beauty of their soul.
From the moment of conception we are blessed with a beautiful limited gift. It seems overflowing for a newborn and too close for comfort for an elderly. Sometimes we want to rush it and other times we want to delay it, but we cannot control it.Every living thing feels its power. Even the moon and the sun have respect for it. The seasons follow it and the leaves obey it. The beauty of blooming flowers is subject to it. On certain days, we try to stretch it and only wish we had more of it. Other days, we forget the importance of it and mismanage it. Some are blessed with a little more of it, but we cannot buy more than we were given or even negotiate with it.
Not all successful people are fruitful, but all fruitful people are successful. Allow me to explain…
A fruitful life is a life lived beyond the expectations of society. Society’s definition of success often relies on an individual’s earned income, assets and/or education. It’s as if we view success as being attainable through only one pathway. According to dictionary.com, however, success can also be defined as the accomplishment of one’s goals– those goals can be anything that makes your precious little heart happy. If you are anything like me, riches is not really your priority and that is absolutely okay. In other words, success can be accurately described as reaching a level of contentment from the result of an action. Having a prestigious career or money is not always enough to feel satisfied or content, but if we learn to live a fruitful life (action), we will find contentment (desired outcome) in our lives.
To win the battle, you must bury the head. Let us talk about this. I am not an expert on the process of killing venomous snakes, but I read a book called Goliath Must Fall written by pastor Louie Giglio. In a section of his book, he describes the adventures he lived when he would go to summer camp during his teenage years. As a camp counselor, pastor Louie had the horrifying mission of going snake hunting to protect the other teens from getting hurt by these venomous creatures. He described the hunting process and completed it by mentioning one important detail: the hunting battle against a snake was not over until the head of the dead snake was dug underground. Although the snake was dead, poison still sat in the fangs and leaving the head exposed would be very dangerous. They always buried the heads after each killing. Now, I have never lived in area where venomous snakes are common. However, if you have, you would agree with pastor Louie in his hunting process. The main lesson: even if the your problem is dead, you are not necessarily out of the danger zone.
At the early age of 2, I began to show interest in something children my age found to be the most boring thing to do; attend church, I mean at that age it is hard to understand what church even is and why people attend every weekend. I, however, loved tagging along with my grandmother every time she went. My grandmother was and is a devoted Christian. After losing her 8-year-old son in a tragic accident, she found healing in a Christian Evangelical church. It was in this place where she found restoration and strength to live through every day without her son. My grandmother became one of the most devoted Christians I know. I had no idea that her devotion would pave the way for my lonely and beautiful uniqueness.
Living Deliberately 