“I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose…” Isaiah 49:4

Do you ever feel like that? That everything you’re doing is for nothing and for no purpose? You’ve been working so hard but no one seems to notice. You start to think things like, “This is pointless, nobody knows what I do, nobody knows how hard I work, nobody cares, I’ll never get promoted, I’ll never get more responsibility, I’ll never make more money. Is serving God worth it? is living right really going to pay off? I might as well just throw in the towel…”

I know I’ve been there. I’ve wanted to quit. I’ve felt like nothing I do was going to pay off. I thought it was all worthless. In fact, I gave God a mandate. I said, “God, if you don’t show me why I should stay here, I’m quitting.” The next day he brought me to Isaiah 49:4 (listed above). When I read that, I thought, YEA! That’s me! I’ve spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose . . . then I read the rest of the verse.

“Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.” -Isaiah 49:4

That wrecked me. I realized that I wasn’t trusting God at all. I was looking to other people to reward me. I wanted others to recognize everything I’d been doing. I wanted others to promote me. I wanted other to pay me more money.

From that moment on, I made a conscious to decision to trust God for my reward in every pursuit of life. I’m going to serve God no matter what. He’s my reward, He’s my promotion, He’s the source of my income, He’s my affirmation.

The promotions, rewards, raises, and whatever else you are believing for will come. They’ll come in God’s timing. Jesus said that if you are faithful in the small things, He WILL make you faithful over much.

In reflecting on life recently, the only conclusion I can come to is: I thank God for my life.

I think that is an attitude we should all have as we go throughout life. So much of our life is what we make of it. It’s about our attitude. It’s about our choices. There are going to be ups and downs. There are going to be trials and tests. There are going to be tough times. But in spite of all of that, we get to live our lives.

We get to experience so much everyday that we take for granted.We get to have a relationship with God, travel, have great relationships, have bad relationships, go to school, go on vacations, go after our dreams, have crushes, get disappointed, fall in love, experience success, experience failure, go to family picnics, go to high school reunions, take classes to improve, interact on Facebook and twitter, go to church, serve our communities, network, listen to music, exercise, eat great food, smell flowers, see wildlife, shop, drive, watch great movies, you could go on forever on everything we can experience in life.

Life is Beautiful

The bottom line is: Our lives is where the action is. This is the only time in history that we get to live. The people we come in contact with, we may never come in contact with again. This is where we get to dream big and go for it. Everything here is a once in a lifetime experience. Enjoy the journey. Go after your dreams. Take nothing for granted. Realize that there is hope in the midst of any situation you may be in. Keep going. Don’t quit. Don’t get discouraged. When life is bad, realize it will get better.

Live your life for Everything it’s Worth.

Thoughts?

I just got back from vacation. It was fantastic! I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on how to make the most of vacation. After you read the post, I would love to hear how you make the most of your vacations. Here we go:

Prepare – Anytime I am going somewhere, I research what the “must-do’s” are. I also research the best places to eat! I’ll put them in a note in Evernote. While I am actually on vacation, I’ll ask as many locals as possible what I have to do and where I should eat while I’m in town. I’ve gotten to see some pretty cool things that I would have never seen had I not done the research and asked around.

Vacation Traditions – No matter where you go, make traditions with your friends and family when you take trips! Whether it’s taking similar photo’s each year, letting each person pick what to do each day, always going to a nice dinner, you name it.

Eat Everything – I set no boundaries when it comes to diet while I am on vacation! It’s wonderful! I must have consumed 10,000 calories a day on vaca! Throughout the week, just for dessert, I consumed: 7 ice cream cones, 2 whoopie pies, 2 pieces of blueberry pie ala mode, 7 pastries! It was awesome! Enjoy life!

Unplug from Everything – On trips where I don’t have to work. I unplug from everything. I don’t take my cell phone with me anywhere I go, I try not to check social media sites, I don’t respond to texts or calls unless I absolutely have to.  This is hard for me because I am social, but it’s one of the only times all year where I am fully engaged in every moment with the people I love most.

Make Memories Intentionally – This is a core value for me. Whatever you have to do to make memories, do it! Once you make a memories, record it in a journal so you don’t lose it and you can always go back to it and bring it back up on future vacations and dinners with friends and family.

Take as Many Adventures as You Can – This is a core value for me to! If there is adventure to take, I want in on it! I want to climb every mountain, take every excursion, see every historical site, eat at all the famous restaurants, etc. Experience everything you can in life!

Review & Reflect – This probably consumes the majority of my time on vacation. I am constantly reviewing and reflecting on my life. Where I’ve been, where I am at, where I am going in every area of my life. Am I hitting my goals? Am I growing? Am I accomplishing what I want to be? Am I living by my priorities?

Commit – Once I’ve reviewed and reflected, I usually get 3-4 things that I recognize I need to change and commit to. I’ll write those 3-4 things down and commit to making the changes when I get back from vacation. Then I’ll ask someone to hold me to what I’ve committed to!

Read – I read as much as I can on vacation! I love reading! I always try to find a few books to go through while I am on vacation!

Take Pictures and Journal – These are the two things you’ll be able to leave your kids when you are old! Pictures and words that you journal are the only tangible things you’ll have to remember your vacations and memories! Capture everything!

These are some of the things I do to make the most of my vacations, what do you do?