I’ve decided when my time is up, I don’t want to arrive to Heaven pristine and perfectly preserved in proper condition. You see, I don’t want to have an ounce of living left in me when I step on those golden streets, because I used it all up here on Earth. I want to come skidding through the Pearly Gates sideways, with wild hair, worn the heck out,/ screaming “wooohoooo what a ride!”

The point of life is not to arrive to the end with piles of treasures you’ve accumulated, there will be plenty of treasures in Heaven, God doesn’t need you to bring your own. The point is not to have your name in lights, but rather your name in the book. The point is to have lived every one of your days to the fullest, as if each were your last, because one day you’ll be right. To treat each day as a precious gift of living, because isn’t it?! Isn’t today a priceless gift filled with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities?

Why do we forget that? Why did we wake up to a Monday morning with a list of things we HAVE to do instead of a list of things we GET to do?

This is life, and you get exactly one. How well are you living it?

Jesus told us in Matthew 10:39 “If you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

There are many commentaries and theories on this verse, but here’s what it means to me: If I will fully surrender my life and live in the unknown, the all-knowing will give me the reward of a life beyond my dreams.

There’s a plan for your life. A big picture of what it can be. A greater purpose by design. There’s only one way to step into it … surrender. GIVE UP YOUR LIFE, THEN YOU WILL FIND IT.

When God says in Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go”, it means there is a way to begin with. God has a way for you and his intentions aren’t for you to wander around lost in your life, he wants to show you the way to get to the life he has for you.

He saw your entire life before you ever lived a single day of it. GOD IS NOT SURPRISED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR LIFE TODAY. He saw this coming and I promise he didn’t freak out.

Loosen your grip on how you think things should be. Are you like me, and you get caught up in how you thought your life would all work out, and you maybe miss what God is trying to do instead? I thought I would stay in the same small town I grew up in. I thought my husband would go to work for my Daddy and build houses just like all the other men in my family did. I thought I would have green eyed little girls that looked just like me. And I thought that’s exactly what I wanted. But when God started revealing his bigger plan to me, I decided to go for it.

I lost every image I ever had of what my life would become. None of it happened the way I thought it would. But what I found was what Jesus promised … MY LIFE. My true life. The life I was created for. But first, I had to give up life as I thought it would be.

When I let go, then I find life. God is calling you to a life of the unknown with the all-knowing.

This is faith.

And honestly, faith is scary as heck sometimes. It’s a jump, and God if you don’t catch me, this is gonna be real messy. And you know what I’ve found, sometimes he teaches me to fly after I jump, and sometimes he lets me hit the ground. Yes, sometimes he lets me fail. Sometimes dreams go up in smoke. Sometimes my leap isn’t met with soaring eagle wings, it’s met with free fall and kersplatt. Kersplatt, that didn’t work out. Kersplatt, it all fell apart. Kersplatt, this is a huge mess.

Let me tell you, the enemy sure works in the kersplatt doesn’t he? His slimy whispers of “you’re just not good enough” convince you that you should shrink back and play little. Maybe you’ve never dared to jump again after that last fall. Oh, did the enemy win? Did he convince you to sit it out?

But what if the kersplatt was all part of the plan? God’s plan. What if it’s part of the surrender? What if it’s not your ultimate failure, but instead it’s teaching you failure isn’t fatal after all.

When you’re learning to ride a bike, you have to make friends with falling. If you’re too afraid to fall, you’ll never learn to ride. Honey, the kersplatt, the failure, the loss, the setback, the struggle is part of your life lessons. You’re not defeated … you’re just learning to overcome your fear of failure.

Once you’ve failed a few times, then gotten back up to try again, that fear no longer has a death grip on you. You now know from experience you can have a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, heck even a bad year without allowing it to become a bad life.

Lose the way you thought life would be. Let go of that picture. You never saw the full picture. God’s saving the big reveal here. Lose it, and gain something greater … the life God always had planned for you.

God, show me life like it’s supposed to be. I’m willing to lose all I thought it would be for your greater plan and picture. I buy into whatever it is you’re leading me to and whatever it is you have for me. I’m invested in life with you. THIS IS LIVING.

God, show me WHO I am supposed to be. I thought I knew, but now you’re showing me this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more you’re wanting to do in me. Have your way in me. Come in and change anything you want to change. Remove anything that’s holding me back. Rearrange my priorities. Shift my perspective.

I give up my life for you. I give up my plans for you. I give up my idea of how I thought it would be for you. And I gladly grab hold of the bigger, better, more beautiful life you are offering in exchange. Bring on the unknown, this is what you’re calling me to.