Day 9~ Choose Quality over Quantity~ Continue devotional and reflection with Joyce Meyer's 100 Ways to Simplify your life
Welcome to our day 9 devotional reading and reflection! We are going to continue with our discussion on Joyce Meyer's 100 Ways to Simplify your life. I hope this has encouraged many of you throughout your day as well as it has mine. Let's start!
9) Choose Quality over Quantity~ Our scripture reading is from Philippians 1:10, " Learn to sense what is vital and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing what is the highest and the best].
Quote from Martin Luther King Jr., " The quality , not the longevity, of one's life is what is important."
I remember a sermon from many years ago from a pastor who asked a question, " What did you do with dash in between the time you were born and until the day you passed on?" WOW! It was an eye opener for me as well! Did I fully understand the question that was being asked at the time? No I did not! Until a few years ago I lost my best friend, her husband, and her daughter in a blink of an eye!
Like I have stated in previous reflections, I did not have a lot of friends but I was blessed with the quality of friendships I had throughout my childhood well into my adulthood. My Best Friend Liz Torres and I pretty much were together 24/7 at times throughout high school. It was just one of those moments! We all used to hang out by the doors in middle school before class started and I always ended up walking in singing the top song of the day from Janis Joplin to Kenny Rogers. Liz lived her life being a friend in times that you didn't expect! I remember the day she asked me to go to her church for a concert! I ended up staying there along with my family from the rest of my high school years. After we graduated, our paths changed but we remained close! Liz married Jeff in March 1999 at her home. They ended up having two wonderful children Ayron and Jenna! By 2003, I ended up moving to North Carolina so distance was difficult but we wrote snail letters to each other. She used to correct my errors and let me know in the next letter, something she always did in high school!
March 2, 2006 was a day that is etched into my mind. The prior week I received a phone call from another Friend, to tell me that Liz and her family had been in a car accident and was pronounced dead at the scene along with her husband Jeff and daughter Jenna. There was a terrible snowstorm that hit the local area in my hometown. They were out doing errands when they slid into a truck. Ayron was in critical condition and was flown to Syracuse Hospital fighting for life. I was in utter shock. The group picture above is all those who she influenced throughout her lifetime and more. On the day of her funeral, all of us were there, including our friend Amy by phone because she was in Mississippi, sat in the same row as we did as youth group. Ayron survived with a brain injury and continues to strive with each passing day in the care of Liz's sister, Maryalice. Each one of us Liz influenced our lives by investing into the kingdom of God by inviting her friends to join her at church. Some of us have carried on with the knowing that she lived her life from her birth and until the day she passed.
To understand the quality of friendship is how one perceives it! I was blessed with a good group of friends that remain in my life in times that I need them and hope they know I would be there for them as well. So how are you going to live your life between the time you were born until the day you pass? What are you going to do with that dash? Invest in the quality of friendship Today! Share God and your faith with them and help build up the kingdom of God. Invest in Quality not Quantity!
9) Choose Quality over Quantity~ Our scripture reading is from Philippians 1:10, " Learn to sense what is vital and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing what is the highest and the best].
Quote from Martin Luther King Jr., " The quality , not the longevity, of one's life is what is important."
I remember a sermon from many years ago from a pastor who asked a question, " What did you do with dash in between the time you were born and until the day you passed on?" WOW! It was an eye opener for me as well! Did I fully understand the question that was being asked at the time? No I did not! Until a few years ago I lost my best friend, her husband, and her daughter in a blink of an eye!
Like I have stated in previous reflections, I did not have a lot of friends but I was blessed with the quality of friendships I had throughout my childhood well into my adulthood. My Best Friend Liz Torres and I pretty much were together 24/7 at times throughout high school. It was just one of those moments! We all used to hang out by the doors in middle school before class started and I always ended up walking in singing the top song of the day from Janis Joplin to Kenny Rogers. Liz lived her life being a friend in times that you didn't expect! I remember the day she asked me to go to her church for a concert! I ended up staying there along with my family from the rest of my high school years. After we graduated, our paths changed but we remained close! Liz married Jeff in March 1999 at her home. They ended up having two wonderful children Ayron and Jenna! By 2003, I ended up moving to North Carolina so distance was difficult but we wrote snail letters to each other. She used to correct my errors and let me know in the next letter, something she always did in high school! March 2, 2006 was a day that is etched into my mind. The prior week I received a phone call from another Friend, to tell me that Liz and her family had been in a car accident and was pronounced dead at the scene along with her husband Jeff and daughter Jenna. There was a terrible snowstorm that hit the local area in my hometown. They were out doing errands when they slid into a truck. Ayron was in critical condition and was flown to Syracuse Hospital fighting for life. I was in utter shock. The group picture above is all those who she influenced throughout her lifetime and more. On the day of her funeral, all of us were there, including our friend Amy by phone because she was in Mississippi, sat in the same row as we did as youth group. Ayron survived with a brain injury and continues to strive with each passing day in the care of Liz's sister, Maryalice. Each one of us Liz influenced our lives by investing into the kingdom of God by inviting her friends to join her at church. Some of us have carried on with the knowing that she lived her life from her birth and until the day she passed.To understand the quality of friendship is how one perceives it! I was blessed with a good group of friends that remain in my life in times that I need them and hope they know I would be there for them as well. So how are you going to live your life between the time you were born until the day you pass? What are you going to do with that dash? Invest in the quality of friendship Today! Share God and your faith with them and help build up the kingdom of God. Invest in Quality not Quantity!
Reference:
Meyer, J. (2007). 100 ways to simplify your life. New York, NY: FaithWords.
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