Be a part of something great – Your Life

Be a part of something great – YOUR LIFE

This thought popped into my head a few weeks ago when I was watching Major League on the tube. It was the 20^th anniversary of that movie, which I dearly love. In fact, it's one of the few movies that actually gets me misty eyed at the end of. Braveheart, being one of the others.

What is it about sports and action movies that move their viewers?

Is it the thrill of the victory? The greatness of overcoming the insurmountable odds that are against you? Being the hero, saving the damsel in distress, the world, or the galaxy? Beating the bad guys, righting the wrongs?

Probably a bit of all of it. We all want to be a part of something great, be the hero, and lead the charge. I think that sometimes we get so caught up in what is going on around us that we can easily forget that we are part of something great – OUR OWN LIVES. Your life is what you make of it. Every day can be an adventure. Our lives are where they are for a lot of reasons. My personal view is that God puts us where we are at any given time. That doesn't mean that where we are now is where we will be for the rest of our lives, and it doesn't mean that we should become complacent. That adventure, our lives, can take place anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Make the most of what you have, when you have it. Be thankful for your family, your neighbors, and your friends. Strive to do it a little better today than you did yesterday.

Being a hero to someone, whether in your family, someone close to you or someone you just happen to run into doesn't have to take a lot of effort. It can be as simple as a smile, a phone call to an old friend, or a quick visit to someone you haven't seen in a while. As we pick up steam and head into the holiday season, we need to take a moment and be thankful for what we have.

Again, it's easy to be complacent and forgot how good we have it, especially when compared to people in other parts of the world, or even this country. Last Wednesday at Awanas, we watched a short film on the Samaritan's Purse organization. They're the people who do Operation Christmas Child. If you're not familiar with that, they collect shoeboxes full of random items; pencils, shoes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, combs, small toys and the like and send them to kids in other countries who don't have much of a Christmas. They also help with other relief efforts here at home. We collect for our Church's donation to them and always thought that it was a great cause, but never thought much more about it. It got put into perspective when the gentleman talking about the clips we were watching said "This may be EVERYTHING that they get for Christmas, EVER". One shoebox full of stuff. Watching the movie of their reactions when those kids opened those boxes was really moving. They were so excited about those items, that most of just consider necessities.

We also watched another clip about a lady named Lejla Allison , a young lady who grew up in Bosnia during some of the worst times of the wars there. It tells how that one shoebox completely changed her life. I hope you'll take a moment to watch her story, it's truly moving.

It's November 1^st and this year will be over before we know it. I wish everyone the best for the remaining 2 months of the year. Hang on, it's going to go quickly!