Simply Remind Me: Life is a promise. Fulfill it

Can you imagine what it would’ve been like if Mother Teresa had her own blog, had a Facebook page and Tweeted every day? I think she’d have millions of people “Like” her and follow her electronically. (OK, I know there’s a Mother Teresa Facebook page but if she personally had updated it!)

I honestly haven’t studied about her life very much but I know she was a profound yet simple lover of Jesus.

Her passion was to serve Him by spreading His love to people who were desperate - not only for Jesus and encouragement - but also for food, clothes and shelter.

Mother Teresa not only had the gift to serve but God also gave her the gift to write and speak. There’s so many words of wisdom that came from her lips and pen and paper.

Some of her wisdom included her definition of “promise”. In one of the things I did read about her was this:

“Mother Teresa used to write letters with a passion that was unique to her discipline and she never ignored writing replies to the letters she received from different corners of the world, and given below is one of the wonderful replies she wrote:

My dear, Life is a promise that we will experience all that it has to give. A promise that we shall love, cry, laugh, and eventually die. That we shall not worry about tomorrow, or contemplate too much about yesterday. And that we shall experience today; and all it’s beautiful moments. Life is a promise. Fulfill it. Truly yours, Mother Teresa

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I would love to receive a letter from her like that in the mailbox at the end of our driveway or I’d take an email too. If I had had the opportunity to have a conversation with her face to face, I’d ask her, “How have you been fulfilling that promise?”

We are promised the need of love and to cry, laugh and eventually die. It’s all that life in-between where we try to fulfill it.

Fill it with what?

I want to choose to fill it with overflowing love for my family, God’s Word, meaningful conversations with friends, lists of gratitude, hugs and a serving heart.

But oh, I can find myself pouring in some frustration, resentment, selfishness, fear and greed, hoping though there’s a hole in the bottom of that cup.

Maybe there’s a nail that puts a hole in the bottom of that cup to not allow those not-too-proud-of-choices and regrets stay around for too long a time.

Then it’s sealed with a promise that only God can give to restore my soul and that cup can be re-filled with grace and love like no other.

God promises life. Fulfill that promise of life.

It is a life like no other when I choose to fill my life with God’s promises that grace brings hope, beautiful and simple moments bring joy, forgiveness brings restoration and true love brings…well, promises.

“Life is a promise. Fulfill it.”

What promise do you fill your life with?

It’s Monday and that mean’s Joy Dare time:

#1698 2 friends who both (unplanned) let me know about Compel, a website designed to strengthen writing skills

#1699 subscribed to Compel!

#1700 celebrating son’s birthday over a steak at Outback

#1701 decorating our home for autumn

#1702 listening to piano music

#1703 Hearing Halleluiah by Time for Three in violins on a Saturday evening

#1704 raking the first pile of leaves for the season

#1705 memories of my home I grew up in on 1705 Westhaven Drive