Good morning, dear ones.
I’ve already stacked up an ambitious itinerary through Portland. And a text message received this morning from a guy I met while skiing a couple months ago leads me to consider including a stop at Timberline on Mt. Hood for an hour or so of Spring skiing. He’s inviting me to join him again. I also have in the back of my truck a hunk of black walnut that I’ve promised to give him but have never yet been able to connect again to deliver it.
I’m also making an impulsive decision to snatch a devotional composition from my 2010 folder for today’s date. So that’s what is pasted below.
May your day play out as it should. And there’s nothing wrong with a little play. Blessings. Ray
It seems to me that this line could be an appropriate epitaph on her tombstone. “She did what she could.” She may not have been extremely talented, famous, or influential, but she did what she could. She made use of the resources she had. She took advantage of her opportunity to serve.
Sooner or later this old body I temporarily live in is going to end up in some cold dark grave (…but, of course, not my eternal soul!). When that happens, I cannot imagine an epitaph more attractive to me than that one. I would hope that such a statement could appropriately characterize the few short years of my plodding on this planet. “He did what he could.” Not very fancy. No flash. No frills. Not famous. Mistakes here and there. A few little achievements. Soon forgotten. But, “HE DID WHAT HE COULD.” I’ll accept that.
It really is good to remember that the standard God uses to determine your success is, in fact, you yourself. That is, He will never expect you to perform outside the parameters of your individual potential. You will be measured against the standard of what you could have been and done. And through Christ you CAN come the closest to living up to your potential toward becoming all you should be—and doing all you should do. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).