My favorite song of Summer 2019 is “The Nights” by Avicci. A song about fully living life while you can. Listen to these lyrics:

One day my father—he told me,
“Son, don’t let it slip away”
He took me in his arms, I heard him say,
“When you get older
Your wild life will live for younger days
Think of me if ever you’re afraid.”

A totally secular song that I hear God’s voice in. My father is telling me don’t let this life slip away. My father is telling me just think of him when I’m afraid, then boldly live this one life he has given me. Your father is telling you to DO IT WHILE YOU CAN. You will never be this young again. There are things you can do this summer that you may never be able to do again, do it while you can. When you get older your wild life will live for younger days. You’re here now, if you can climb mountains, CLIMB! If you can swim waters, SWIM. If you can go, GO. Don’t miss a single opportunity to live my friend. Your opportunities are numbered, your summers are limited, and this one will pass quickly.

The chorus of the song is my favorite:

He said, “One day you’ll leave this world behind
So live a life you will remember.”

A life you will remember. Are you living that kind of life? Are you living that kind of summer? One you will remember. Or are the days just passing by as you wait for the “next thing”, then the “next thing”, without ever fully tasting what is before you today? Sadly, that’s exactly how we typically live. Either in anticipation or in dread of what’s coming and missing the opportunity of a lifetime to live today.

One day you’ll leave this world behind. A summer will come when you’re no longer here. Your time will be up and your chances will be gone. Will you have done all you could do? All you wanted to do? How many of your dreams will go unlived? How many opportunities are you willing to miss out on because you were too busy … then they’re just gone. What you CAN do today won’t always be available. The kids will grow up. You’ll grow old. Life will change. Don’t be left wishing you would have. Take the chances. Dare to go. Say yes. Not only yes, but HECK YEAH. Jump into the life you have right here, right now and don’t let this slip away.

Live a life you will remember.

That specific part of the song has a special meaning to me. Many years ago I had a vision. Not like a wonky “she might be 73% crazy” kinda vision, but like a dream while I was awake kinda vision. I saw myself standing before God at the end of my life, hearing him say “well done my good and faithful servant, let’s take a look back at your life.” And in a moment, my entire life flashed before my eyes like a movie. My childhood, my teen years, me as a wife and mom, me as a grandma, in a flash it was all before me. My life was BIG and wild and beautiful, full of adventures and excitement, purpose, passion and impact. But there was only one problem with the movie of my life, I didn’t remember the best parts. The biggest, most exciting, most thrilling, over the top moments weren’t in my memories. I couldn’t remember them. It seems these would be the parts of my life I would remember most, but I didn’t.

So, in this vision, I asked God why those parts were missing from my memory, and he said, “my daughter, you didn’t choose them. They were all available to you, every adventure, every opportunity, it was all there. I made the way for you, the path was paved, you had everything it took inside you to live all those moments, but you chose not to. You don’t remember it, because you didn’t choose it. You sat it out. You said no. And so you missed some of the best of what I had available to you.”

ARE YOU MISSING SOME OF THE BEST OF WHAT GOD HAS AVAILABLE TO YOU?

I’ve never forgotten this vision God gave me so long ago, and it’s become my life mission to live a life I will remember. When God shows me a movie of all my life COULD BE, I remember it all because it’s the life I chose to live.

What if we have 2 lives: The life we were created for -and- The life we are living.

How far is the divide between all you could be experiencing in your life and what you’re actually living? What if there’s so much more available to you in your lifetime and all you have to do is show up to live it? This is living a life you will remember. This is showing up for the hard stuff and the scary stuff, diving in head first, going all-in, and daring to see just how BIG of a life God has available for you. This is doing it while you can.

No more delaying. No more waiting for perfect circumstances. No more wondering and wishing. GIRL IT’S TIME TO LIVE. NOW.

In Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus extended a simple call to some fishermen one day: He said “Come with Me.” He was inviting them to leave their old way of life and follow Him instead. These men said yes to Jesus, and their lives were forever changed.

Jesus is saying to you today “come with me.” An invitation to live this one life of yours to the fullest. An invitation to do the impossible with him. An invitation to live up to your God-given potential. To leave the shores, to do something different … Will you dare to go with him? Will you say yes? Will you just live this day, today, more in alignment with what God truly has available to you and accept his invitation to a bigger life? Just lessen the gap today – the gap between the life you were created for and the life you’re living.

One more part of this song where I hear the voice of God says:

He said, “Go venture far beyond the shores.
Don’t forsake this life of yours.
I’ll guide you home no matter where you are.”

God says, GO! There’s so much more to this life than you’re living. The world he created is great big and beautiful, venture far beyond the shores! Don’t forsake this life of yours. There are things you can do that others cannot. Don’t forsake what you can do, dwelling on the things you can’t do. Oh how you’ll regret the time you don’t take. Those wasted vacation days aren’t coming back my friend. Those years with the kids at home will go so quickly. Family time is limited, and then it’s gone. Don’t forsake this. Don’t miss it because you’re too busy, or money is tight, or you hate the way you look in shorts. Good lord, do you realize how foolish that is? Rock this life you have been given … yes in shorts! If you don’t like the way you look, get busy doing something about it, but don’t miss out on living in the mean time.

GO. LIVE. EXPERIENCE. NOW.

Jesus can be trusted. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is always guiding you back to the life you were created for. Always redirecting you back to the best path for your life. Always using even your greatest mistakes for something good. Remember Jeremiah 29: 11, God’s plans are always to prosper you, not to harm you. He has plans to give you hope and a future.

Our Father will always guide us back home. He’ll always get us back. You may get lost. You may experience an epic failure. Hey, that’s what happens when you’re living BIG. Take the risk. Dare to do something so big that you fail. Dare to do the very things that scare you. Show up for life with a racing heart and deep breaths, this is what your creator intended. Not shallow living with shallow breaths and a heart beating a boring rhythm.

Wake up. Live. Do it while you can. Live a life you will remember. The day will come when your time is up, and you’ll stand before God. Maybe he’ll show you a movie of your life, a movie of all you could have done, all he had available for you … I pray you remember it all because you lived it all. One day you’ll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember. Don’t forsake this life of yours! Do it while you can.