Do Not Resuscitate
I had never heard the term before… – DNR- , what exactly did it mean? All I knew was that we were being encouraged to sign one, as at that point nothing else could be done. It was 4 years ago today that my father showed me what a DNR was. He passed away undisturbed, without any pain, and his body was allowed to just go through the process. After all, that’s what we wanted, the least invasive, most natural death possible.
Hesitant at first to listen to the doctors who made such a recommendation, it slowly began to make sense. The time for him to go was soon approaching and trying to keep him alive with CPR would just contribute to a more painful death. Though it’s never easy to make such a decision, without a doubt, at times it really is best.
Do Not Resuscitate.
I think back today at the place I was in mentally 4 years ago and how so much has changed. Where in the days leading up to my father’s death I was having a hard time letting go and understanding that keeping him alive was not the most beneficial thing, today I see it clearly.
But DNR’s are not strictly for those lying on a hospital bed. In fact, DNR’s extend far beyond the hospital room and into our daily lives. In this 4 year reflection period that I’ve been having, I can think of many other things in my life that have come to an end, many of which I should have let die years ago. Yet some have remained around much longer than they should have because I have kept giving life to that which was already expired. In return for this life extension, I have received many heartaches, sleepless nights, and drawbacks because
resuscitating something that’s meant to die only brings pain.
I’d like to blame it on ignorance, and say that many times I haven’t known better. But the truth is that my first responder complex has been the culprit.
My father taught me a very valuable lesson that day.
Some things in life just have to die.
Next week, I have the privilege to speak to a beautiful group of women called the LILIES. I will share with them my experiences of letting certain things in my life live on way past the time they should have. I’m believing that they too will reflect on what they have been giving a life extension to, and that by the end of the day they will commit to sign a DNR with me.
Because somethings in life do not need to be resuscitated!
Believing you are letting go of the expired things this week!
The Event Planner
I don’t remember ever taking logistics in school but it was certainly amongst the courses offered. It never called my attention back then and I can’t say that much has changed. I mean, figuring out all the little details of anything has always been tedious work for me. Yet at the same time the little details are what make up the big picture.
Just this weekend the Jensing and I were analyzing our options of schooling for Sky as she gets ready to go into high school next year. Boy oh boy, was that a process! The choice as far as which school was a better selection was quite obvious, but did I get stuck in the logistics of this decision or what?! Transportation, school hours, after school activities etc. By the end of our conversation I was drained!
Of course these are things that need to be thought out and planned, but is there such a thing as too much planning? Well I suppose that would depend on whether or not we step from planning into control.
This morning, in keeping with the planning overload we experienced yesterday, it seems I woke up ready for round two. The only difference was that I switched subjects. I found myself beginning to worry about an event I will be attending later this month -over which details I have no control-, and wondering about how I could make sure every specific would function according to my satisfaction.
This was control at its finest working undercover as planning.
I quickly caught myself and that’s when it hit me, “Just Show Up”.
I mean, after all, who died and made me the Event Planner for every single affair in life?!
You see, as much as I’d like to know how every aspect of anything I am remotely involved in will work out, sometimes it’s not for me to know.
It was then that I remembered that I have a fulltime Event Planner on staff that is there to work out all the factors of all my occasions and I simply have to …show up.
-Life is certainly easier when someone is working out the details for you!
Have a Blessed Week!
The Unexpected Outcome
I Love it when a Plan Comes Together
is the line made famous in the popular series A-Team. Although quite simple, it was also quite catchy. I mean, who doesn’t love it when things work out just as planned right?!
But what about when what we planned is nowhere near working out and instead we begin to feel as though we just hit a wall? Usually at this point we lose all hope and begin to count our losses…UNLESS of course we experience an Unexpected Outcome.
Unexpected Outcomes are those things we never imagined would work together for our benefit. In fact the most famous Unexpected Outcome story is one we just celebrated last weekend.
The savior of the world is falsely accused, viciously put to death on a cross, and then buried and sealed in a tomb. Talk about hitting a wall! Those that were followers of Christ were left with nothing but a memory of the one that came and revolutionized their world. All hope was lost and as much as they wanted to believe there would be a favorable outcome their limited thinking impeded them from seeing it.
And three days later just as time had convinced them of the death of a dream and stolen the last bit of hope that remained, the Unexpected Outcome AROSE (literally)!
I’m not sure about you, but that’s the G-d that I serve!
-One who shows up with a solution at the last minute!
-One who parts the red sea and lets a whole nation of people through!
-One who brings down walls!
-One who makes the mountains low and the valleys high!
A supernatural kind of G-d…
The G-d of the Unexpected Outcome!!
Believing that Unexpected Outcomes will ARISE in your lives this week…