You Can Thrive

Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? 

Can reeds thrive without water?

(Job 8:11 New International Version)

Jamming to the Christian radio station yesterday on my drive to Wausau to see my daughter, I sang along to one of my favorite songs. “Redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave. I’ve written about it here before.

As the end of the song approached and I was enjoying the music as much as I was enjoying the breathtaking autumn vistas along the road, I thought, “God, it would be so cool if that newer song that I really like came on next.”

We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives

It's time for us to do more than just survive

We were made to thrive

(from Thrive by Casting Crowns, January 28, 2014)

Didn’t take long for the tears to start running down my face. We have such a big God and yet He is willing to crawl in my car to satisfy my tiniest whim.

The cool thing about this song is that it always reminds me of the mission statement my daughter came up with for our nonprofit organization. 

The mission of Tumaini Volunteers is to assist developing communities in Kenya to thrive by providing sustainable projects to help make them self-sufficient.

Sure, we can all survive. The people living in poverty in Kenya can survive. But don’t we all want to thrive? Don’t we want everyone we meet to thrive as well? And whenever I think of my beautiful daughter, I’m reminded that she is living anything but an ordinary life. God has certainly blessed us.

Lord, God, Heavenly Father, I thank You from the very bottom of my heart, I thank You even from the bottom of my feet. You are such an amazing God. I have never done anything to deserve all that You have rained down upon me. Help me to take my ordinary life and share some of what I have with others. In Jesus name, Amen