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| My daughter Carol (19 yrs old) |
Carol's life and death are impacting people in an emphatic way and teaching or reminding us of many things even as we think about her these last couple of months. When I thought about some significant things in my daughter's life and how they have taught me things, I found that many of them started with the letter L. How appropriate is it not, since she LOVED to LAUGH, she LOVED her LORD, and she LOOKED to God for HELP and HOPE in her life? Here are twelve " L lessons" my daughter, Carol Michelle Hensley Singletary
taught me in a little over 19 years:
1. LIVE life now with passion along with a passionate hope for an even better eternity. Believe that what we learn in this temporary home will make for an even better heavenly homecoming. The reason we have that hope is because of God's passion to make a way for us to be with Him forever. Since Christ had such a passion/love for us should we not return some to him??? Passion to me means using up every bit of something! So can I not live my life and use it up every bit and taking in all He has made available for us in this life and even more for all eternity. Passion also is indicative of intensity. Intensity is awesome when balanced along with other life events. And as part of our passion we have to make decisions sometimes of what is worth passionately pursuing or if some things should be deleted from our agenda. And certainly, having people in your life who share your passion for live and God make this life much more rewarding.
2. LEARN all you can so that your passionate pursuit of life will be even smoother. Soak up every morsel of information that will help you live your life with passion for the things that matter most. Learning always gives us hope, and hope is what helps us hrough many life situations. We have all experienced that a learning process in life is not always fun. When we can find ways to make if fun we tend to retain knowledge from the process that will benefit us sometime in our life.
3. LOVE with in the right priority--always and unconditionally. If we love Christ for what he has done for us, we should in turn want to love HIM back so much!!! And then as we seek to honor him by loving Him then we would also want to "be like HIM!" and love others more than self. He gave a sacrifice of his own son so that we could be restored to himself for all eternity. We all may struggle with the concept of loving everyone. But when we finally get good at loving in the right priority (God firsts, others next, ourselves last) then everything else just kind of falls into place without even working at them!!
4. LAUGH with JOY each day. You are never promised tomorrow. Don't put off joy and laughter from today. Laughter is a way our bodies release stress and tension that can cause numerous health issues if left out of check. And spreading joy is another way of sharing God's love with other and having a harmonious enviroment in which to live.
5. Be LOYAL to the end. We should not only be dedicated to our God but to the very important people He places in our lives to help make this journey more joyous. Loyalty is not an honored trait these days. We are so often tempted to trade loyalty for smoother times with others not as devoted to us. God shows his loyalty to us in his response of forgiveness when we fail Him. His promise of old is still valid today when He says "I will NEVER leave you or FORSAKE you"!
6. LABOR with purpose. In everything we do we should be the best representative of God to this world through our actions and witness through our work efforts. Seek to work obtain what you need and be satisfied in all situations. And if you have more than you need, share with others out of the goodness of your heart in an act of thankfulness to God for his blessings.
7. LOCATE your gifts and use them well. Seek to use your gifts to glorify God and not yourself. Encourage and show others in the same manner.
8. LISTEN well! because few people can do this well. Wisdom to listen is indeed a rare trait. With God's example and instruction and by him placing others in our lives who have done the same for us, we can reciprocate to others when they need a listener and comforter.
9. LIBERATE the praise in your heart and turn it back to GOD! Don't hoard it up....share it in song, dance, hyms, musical instruments, drama,..
10. LINK-UP with others who share your spirit of praise, joy, love, dedication and hope. Leverage the combined traits of yourself and others who share your faith and trust in God to help make this life better for not just you but others. Lift them up when they fall; love them when they need it, and lavish on them prasie when they accomplish great things!!
11. LAVISHLY and LIBERALLY give to others a simple gift that communicates to them without you saying a thing that you wish them well--give em a SMILE!!! Did you know that it really takes more muscles to frown than to smile??
12. LOOK around to notice your own blessings, notice how others have blessed you, and long for the day when you can thank God in heaven, in His presence, for all of His goodness and mercy to you!!!
God gives us many things to help us grown and travel this life's journey. We need to look outward from ourselves to Him and others to accomplish the plan He has for us. Carol was very good at some of these things, and others she was just starting to "get it" as to how to use them to bless her life and others and bring glory to her Savior. I pray what I have learned from her I can put into practice more and more everyday. And right after I see GOD in heaven some day, that when I see her that she will be smiling not only because she loves me but because I made her proud. Cause I know this...she has made me one proud momma. And I will be that way as long as I live. I love you Carol...thank you for teaching me some very valuable things. !
