What's on your Bucket List? NO REGRETS...

Could there ever be a better cast movie than The Bucket List ? (Let’s push pause for a second, because if you haven’t seen the movie, read no further ‘til you have. It’s a must-see.)

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman simultaneously steal the show while attempting to cross off all items on their Bucket List. (“Bucket List” being defined as “all things you wish to do before you kick the bucket”.)

Two favorite lines from the movie include one from Jack Nicholson, who plays Edward Coleman, billionaire hospital magnate. “I run hospitals, not health spas!!” This was a ploy to ensure each hospital room had two beds and no private rooms. He’d no sooner sputtered that phrase when suddenly, he fell ill and became one hundred percent infuriated upon landing in a hospital room with Freeman for a roommate! Oh, the irony…

Second favorite line comes from Morgan Freeman, who plays blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers. He shrieks, while skydiving toward Edward, something totally out of character, akin to a toddler throwing a temper tantrum: “I hate your rotten guts!” Seems he failed to mention his fear of heights!!! Hysterical.

We, the audience, become completely enthralled with their mission to complete their Bucket List. Edward Coleman’s wealth allows them no limits, so quite the fun fantasy.

How ‘bout you? Do you have a Bucket List? Thought much about it?

The past couple of years have found John and me attending more and more funerals. Maybe you’ve noticed this too. Many of us say, “Cancer’s just more prevalent.” Last week at a bookstore, I found myself, yet again, buying a box of sympathy cards. Catch my drift?

Carter Chamber’s advice to Edward Coleman bodes well for us all: “May you find the joy in your life.” Nehemiah 8:10b reminds us, “…do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

After losing three dear friends within a thirteen-month period, John and I decided to mark off one thing real fast from our Bucket List: a trip to Italy. No regrets there!

Sadly, my Mother’s first words upon my Father’s death did include words of regret. It’s my personal goal, and I pray will become yours as well, to live a life with no regrets. Queen of the “shoulda-coulda-wouldas”, living with no regrets is no piece of cake. Already I could give you a mega list over raising our boys.

“I should have read to them more. I should have held them more. I should have played with them more. I should have prayed with them more. I should have planted more seeds of God’s Word in them. I didn’t teach them enough before leaving for college! I should have cooked more.” (Just seeing if you’re still awake…you know that last phrase is not true!!!) Oh, but the list rattles on…and on….and on.

Chris and Kerry Shook have co-authored a phenomenal book called One Month to Live–Thirty Days to a No Regrets Life—They point out that most tombstones include a date of birth and a date of death, separated by a little dash. Here’s their CHALLENGE: “You get to choose how to spend that little dash of time between the two dates of your earthly existence.

What are you spending yours on? Are you living the dash, knowing fully who you are and why you’re here? Or dashing to live, hurriedly spending precious time chasing things that really don’t matter to you? “

Ouch. That hurts. Daring dasher that I am… My perpetual challenge du jour is “beat the clock”. Sigh…Can you relate?

The Shooks continue, “The psalmist prayed, ‘Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should’ (Psalm 90:12 TLB). God wants us to realize that our time on earth is limited so we will spend it wisely. But He gives us the choice about how we spend this most valuable currency.”

Don’t you love those last four words? “This most valuable currency.” Oh, that we’d really choose to cherish each day. Corrie Ten Boom said, “The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration but its donation.”

Allow me to introduce you to a dear friend and mentor of mine who recently completed an over-the-top bucket list item and quite a donation to the people in Florence, Italy. Knowing she had a “milestone” birthday (Not tellin’, y’all have to guess…), and being the consummate planner, this smart gal researched all avenues of how she could spend a chunk of time living in Italy.

No easy feat given she’s a successful business woman, speaker, coach, and writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She also travels frequently for business and pleasure. Oh, and small detail: she’s married to an equally successful businessman, Stephen Tweed, who also travels, speaks, leads seminars, etc.

How in the world she made it all work with both of their schedules remains a mystery to me!!! But….I’m thrilled to tell you that John and I had the pleasure of spending three nights with her in her lovely palazzo in Florence, Italy!

Please meet Elizabeth Nardi (Yes, very Italian!) Jeffries. Elizabeth did what she set out to do: She and Stephen lived in Florence for three months. You may checkout her very fun and informative blog, chronicling her adventures by going to: www.90daysinflorence.blogspot.com

Much more than just accomplishing a “check off” of the ole’ Bucket List, Elizabeth was determined to meet and get to know her neighbors, her landlords, the restaurateurs, the people who worked in the nearby market, the gal at the gelato store, the nail tech, shop keepers, church members, etc. Shining the light of Christ and doing what Jesus did, building relationships one by one, were her goals. She lived out Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” I’d say Elizabeth’s “dash” is full from Florence!

So don’t miss the point here. Yes, it’s all well and good to have a Bucket List. But, it’s more important to do as Elizabeth did and build relationships along the way, with no regrets.. I love the quote, “What in the world are you doing for heaven’s sake?” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Let’s ask God this week to show us people along our paths. May we all shine the Light of Christ to those we meet along the way, keeping eternity in our hearts, with no regrets..

Erma Bombeck said, “There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, ‘Yes, I’ve got dreams, of course I’ve got dreams.’ Then they put the box away and bring it out once in a while to look in it, and yep, they’re still there.” Don’t be packing your dreams away…Live the dash, with no regrets..

As Thanksgiving Week approaches, I pray you and your family have a most Blessed, Happy Thanksgiving and share your blessings with your loved ones. ‘Til next time…

(This November 2012 blog entry is dedicated, bet you can guess, to my friend Elizabeth Nardi Jeffries. Elizabeth dared to dream and blessed a boatload of people in the process! Happy 70th Birthday!!! Oops, I told. Well, no one will believe it. Let’s have some more gelato! Ciao!)