A Deliberate Life

"To know God and to enjoy Him. To celebrate His diversity and live in His unity. To eat with sinners and worship with Lovers. To paint with children, to learn with scholars. To rejoice in dance, to contemplate in prayer. To live dangerously, and give extravagantly. To study, to hear, and to wonder. To sing, to drum, to laugh, to shout, to run. To heal, to reconcile, to serve and to be sent. Joyful expectation, holy discontentment..."

I read this quote many years ago and just fell in love with it.  I put it on the front cover of my Bible but I haven't let those words really sink in in a while.  Then I read it again tonight and it stirred something in my heart.  It's deliberate living.  It's not just going through the motions and getting through the day.  It's about making every day, every moment, matter...because there is a purpose to every day.

These words remind me of my brother Matt.  It's been almost 3 years since he passed away.  He was only 16 years old when God called him Home.  He lived a deliberate life.  I think of him and all that he meant to so many people.  He had a servant heart way beyond his years.  He didn't judge.  He never spoke badly of anyone.  He gave and he gave.  He never held back. 

I miss him.  Oh, how I miss him!  But, more than anything I am inspired by him.  His life has challenged me to truly live with no regrets, with no wasted moments.