{"id":6373,"date":"2015-11-02T09:10:40","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T14:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=6373"},"modified":"2015-11-02T09:23:17","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T14:23:17","slug":"monday-morning-moment-marking-lives-well-lived-work-well-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=6373","title":{"rendered":"Monday Morning Moment – Marking Lives Well-Lived, Work Well Done"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2015<\/a>Photo Credit: Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross<\/a><\/p>\n

There are no ordinary days, nor are there ordinary lives. This morning, Monday, November 2, is a day I want to mark as an opportunity to celebrate extraordinary lives. Yet, how is that even possible? People who live for grand causes and for God Himself don’t look for celebrations or accolades. What do we do then when we want to stand in ovation and clap them back out onto the stage for an encore?<\/p>\n

Celebrating retiring colleagues is best done by those who know them well – who have watched them through the most difficult times, seen them push through seemingly insurmountable circumstances, resonated with their joy in the simplest triumphs.<\/p>\n

How do we mark lives well-lived and work well-done? I don’t have that answer yet…except to express personal gratitude and to live and work in the shadow of these who went before…to steward well their example.<\/p>\n

For today, I will\u00a0enter into\u00a0that process of puzzling over how properly to celebrate the lives and work of those “finishers” who have done well to fix their eyes on the goal…right through. It\u00a0doesn’t feel\u00a0enough, but for today, I join a great cloud of witnesses, so grateful to see how it is to finish well.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses<\/strong> surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance<\/strong> the race that is set before us,<\/span> fixing our eyes on Jesus<\/strong>, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:1-2<\/a><\/p>\n

As I sort this all out, I would be grateful for any stories you have of celebrating work well done and lives well lived. Following\u00a0 are some quotes of those who finished strong or who, living still, are living well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no ordinary people<\/strong>. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.\u201d – C. S. Lewis<\/a><\/p>\n

“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” – Jonas Salk*<\/p>\n

“When we are at the worst times of our lives, when we are battling with something, or struggles, whatever it may be, when we are at our highest point as well, when things are going really well, we want somebody to comfort us and be there for us and to say, ‘Well done.’ That’s Jesus!” – Russell Wilson*<\/p>\n

“Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin*<\/div>\n
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“The pinnacle of the fulfillment I can ever experience for my spirit and soul is to hear from the Lord, when I see Him face to face, ‘Well done my good and faithful servant.'” – Nick Vujicic* \"Blog<\/a><\/div>\n
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The Apostle Paul, in an encounter with Jesus, was completely transformed from a life of murderous, religious zeal to a life of complete surrender to God (something altogether different). He speaks of living life, and finishing well –\u00a0likened to fighting a good fight or running a race to the finish.<\/div>\n
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“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course<\/strong> and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” – Acts 20:24<\/a><\/div>\n
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“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith<\/strong>;<\/span> in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” – 2 Timothy 4:6-8<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"2015<\/a>Photo Credit: Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross<\/a><\/div>\n
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For us all…there is still a race to be run.<\/strong><\/div>\n
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“My legacy doesn’t matter. It isn’t important that I be remembered. It’s important that when I stand before the Lord, He says, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’. I want to finish strong<\/strong>.” – James Dobson*<\/div>\n
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“It is finished.” – Jesus<\/strong>, from the cross (John 19:30<\/a>)<\/div>\n
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\u00a0*Well Done Quotes – Brainy Quote<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What Was Finished?<\/a><\/div>\n
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Parables of the Cross<\/em> by I. Lilias Trotter<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"Blog<\/a><\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross There are no ordinary days, nor are there ordinary lives. This morning, Monday, November 2, is a day I want to mark as an opportunity to celebrate extraordinary lives. Yet, how is that even possible? People who live for grand causes and for God Himself don’t look … Continue reading Monday Morning Moment – Marking Lives Well-Lived, Work Well Done<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[926,1447,34,1628,2126,1705,1180,794,1454,50,33,18,1732,317,263,353,1455,610,55,1453,185],"tags":[2287,37,2282,981,2286,1835,2283,2280,1458,2285,2281,2284,2279],"class_list":["post-6373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attending-or-focus","category-bible","category-books","category-character","category-community","category-conversations","category-crucifixion","category-faithfulness","category-fresh-start","category-god","category-inspired","category-jesus","category-leadership","category-lessons-learned","category-lives-full-of-god","category-monday-morning-moment","category-new-beginning","category-thanksgiving-or-gratefulness","category-transitions","category-work","category-workplace-or-marketplace","tag-apostle-paul","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-good-fight","tag-it-is-finished","tag-james-dobson","tag-jesus","tag-lilias-trotter","tag-lives-well-lived","tag-monday-morning-moment","tag-nick-vujicic","tag-run-the-race","tag-russell-wilson","tag-well-done"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-1EN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6373"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6394,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6373\/revisions\/6394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}