Last Saturday, I went kayaking with two of my younger friends on Moores Creek. There was nothing special about the creek, outside the fact that it is a local creek known for lots of wildlife and the fact that there was a famous Revolutionary War battle fought on this creek. What made this trip special was the fact that I got a chance to hang with these two friends and doing something together that we enjoy.
As I reflect back on the kayaking trip along Moores Creek, I am thinking about how busy most of us are today and how we fail to take the time to enjoy the gift of those around us. To me, it seems that we are so busy with trying to live the life we think we should be living, that we fail to grab a hold what the life we were created to live. For me this means that I get so focused on what I am doing at that moment, I fail to remember that there are people around me who need me. I get self-centered and only think about what I want.
For me, getting away from the rat race of the world around me, give me a chance to disconnect from the world and a chance to reconnect with who God made me to be. Saturday gave me a chance to get to know my two friends on a more personal level. A chance to know what makes them laugh, where they are at in there walks, some of their hopes and desires, a chance to learn what they are wrestling with in life. Why is that important? God made me and the rest of us to be someone who is a giver, not someone who is always taking from the world around me.
Each of us wants to be remembered for something in the life we have been given. We all strive to do something in our lives that is big and earth shattering. We believe we need to be known for something big like being the first man to step on the moon, or some great leader who brought world peace or cured some deadly sickness. All these things are good, but the reality is that most of us are normal people and will never accomplish something big like those things. But what if we began to see the big difference we could make in the lives of those God has chosen to place around us? What if I began to see the difference I could make in the life of my wife, my daughters and son, and my son-in-law, just by being a husband and father that truly loved them more than the things around me? What about the relationship with the other people around me? What difference could I make in their lives?
For me, I need to make the most of every opportunity I have been given. To be who God called me to be. Only He know the big picture and just maybe, the part that I place in someone’s life could be earth shattering, changing their life for the better.