Go to the Woods

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow out of life. To put to route all that was not life; and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived." -Henry David Thoreau

I love that book, I love that quote. It always makes me stop and take a breath and evaluate my life.

Live. Deliberately.

Two little words with SO much passion and power.

I have a friend who is struggling with both of her parents battling cancer right now and neither prognosis is very good. I woke up this morning thinking of her and Thoreau's words came to mind.

Live Deliberately. Suck the marrow out of life.

It's a great idea right, I don't think anyone ever reads these words and thinks "eh, that guy was full of crap..." We all want to get the most out of life but between our jobs, dirty diapers, carpools and everything else life throws at us living deliberately takes a back seat pretty quickly, it seems impossible.

But the bible tells us that Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10) I think He surely wants us to avoid the idea of coming to die and discovering we had not lived.

My parents moved here in November of 2009 and by July 2010 we had lost my father due to complications with bladder cancer. As I look back time and time again over those last few months and all the moments my family shared, all the precious memories we are left with, I realize I was living deliberately-by God's grace.

See I am pretty self focused most of the time, sucking the marrow usually involves what will make ME happy. But family was very important to my father and he passed that on to me which in turn gave me a desire to include both my and Steve's parents in every second of Ben's life possible. That is a gift from God, one I assumed for so long was just "my family loyalty" but now from this side of things I realize it was an avenue God used to bless me because I was open to it-even though I never realized it was Him. I wonder if I had been spending more time with with my heavenly Father during those days, more in tune to His leading, how much more marrow I might have sucked out of that time with my earthly father.

I know life moves fast and we all have obligations, not to mention things we just want to do. But it really is gone before you know it. So here is my challenge: go to the woods-just once a day. Pick out one moment of everyday; one moment with your kids, your spouse a friend or even that goofy co-worker and just stop to savor that moment. Be thankful for it, really breathe it in and let it become a sweet memory you can carry. It doesn't have to be something extravagant, sometimes the most simple moments are the sweetest. Just live it. Deliberately.

If you want more about getting the most out of life I recommend reading:
The Bible
Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
One Month to Live by Kerry & Chris Shook