Twinsight 2 of 50: Love As If There's No Tomorrow

When you live in a metropolitan area, you invariably have people in your daily life who seem one-dimensional to you. You only know what kind of coffee they order, where they sit in church, what kid they drop off, or what kind of dog they walk. And that's about it. I knew Nancy for quite awhile as one of the half-dressed people in the locker room at the health club. I was struck by her high energy level and positive attitude at ungodly hours of the morning.

One day she forgot her makeup and I ran outside after her (hopefully fully dressed...) and we finally introduced ourselves. In the ensuing weeks, we decided to get together with our husbands at the Good Earth. We learned two things. We were instant friends, and that our husbands preferred "911 burgers" (could set off a heart attack) to anything on the Good Earth menu. Now we've known each other half our lives, and have shared countless moments in daily life as well as well as insights through our almost 20-year-running book club with our red-meat guys and two other couples.

This week Nancy and I got together, not at our regular haunt, but in Minnesota Oncology's chemotherapy room. She was getting a 5-hour treatment to knock out her Stage 4 non-smokers lung cancer. Despite that reality, she was a beacon of light in that huge room with her matter-of-fact attitude, laughter, and usual zest and energy for life. It was so her, and yet so astounding given the circumstances.

I wouldn't be surprised if Nancy outlives us all. But there are no guarantees. She's not "living" as if there's no tomorrow - no bucket-list activities like jumping out of an airplane that I'm aware of. But she is "loving" as if there's no tomorrow - loving life, loving people, and loving God to the max.

Pope Paul VI once said, "Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it, I say! Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows."

Some days I act as if there are plenty of tomorrows, wishing the week away or pining for warm days on the lake. I am grateful that Nancy is inspiring me to love as if there's no tomorrow, and want to encourage you to do the same. Stay tuned for next week's Twinsight: Glance in the Mirror Before You Leave the House.

Twinsight 1 of 50: Live Your Epic

Today I turned 50. It's freaking me out a little bit. I breezed right past 40. But 50? On the product marketing diagram (pre-peak, peak, post-peak...that one), 50 seems on the post-peak side. You know, it's all downhill from here. Yikes! But I feel pre-peak. There are teenagers to coach, places to go, people to meet, projects to create, things to learn. And today I'm going with feelings over facts.

I know that God has called me to live every day fully and vibrantly for him, regardless of my age. I was recently inspired by Daniel Wendler, a Westmont College student who is the son of friends of ours. He wrote, "I believe that we were all made to live epics--that God does not call anybody to a life that is merely ordinary. I believe that God calls us to fight harder than Hercules, to love truer than Romeo and to trust that the One who charts the paths of the stars is capable to write the steps of our life."

I couldn't agree more. Today we're planning a video photo montage of a friend of ours in his 50s, Dennis Jabs, who died yesterday. He lived an epic life, not pain-free and not long, but one in which he sought God with his whole heart, invested in people and lived every minute to the hilt. And he leaves an epic-like legacy.

What does today's frame of your epic look like? My frame includes the joy of feeling loved by family and friends (muchas gracias for the wishes and even the insults), a pang of sadness about our friend and all the unrest in the world, and a resolve to live boldly on the big screen of my life that God has given me to light up my corner of the world.

I'd be honored if you'd join me this year in learning how to shape and live out our epics. You game? Stay tuned for next week's Twinsight: Love As If There's No Tomorrow.