Wonderful World (Cover) – (OneRepublic)
THE STORY:
Has anyone ever looked at you and said “Hey…just keep your eyes on the prize”? When someone told me that when I was screwing up I would always just try and picture myself trying to accomplish whatever goal I had and what everything would look like once I did. It was like I would try and picture what I could be doing if I focused on what was important to me. But sometimes we just can’t quite see it…but I’m not talking about with our eyes…do you know what I mean? We want to see it…we even think we know what it is supposed to look like but we don’t see it…and at the moment it may seem frustrating but let me tell you it’s an amazing, wonderful world out there once we learn how to truly see our life. I’m talking about they way we want to live. The way we view our lives, what we think our purpose is, where we see ourselves in 5 years (you know the 5 years plan that everybody asks each other when they feel unhappy with their own lives). Everybody wants to be happy right? Then why are so many people unhappy? Sometimes I sit and I really wonder that…I had something completely different in my mind that I wanted to write about today but this was just on my mind…
A few days ago one of my good friends posted something on social media about a movie on Netflix called Life Of A King, which tells the true story of Eugene Brown (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), an ex-convict who starts the Big Chair Chess Club for inner-city youths inWashington, D.C.. Brown reaches out to the troubled youth and tries to teach them about life and how you must think before you make a move. I’m really not here to promote or demote a movie in this blog, but I personally loved the story of Eugene Brown…because he was devoted to teaching others about the endgame…about life…about how temporary things are here and about the prize…One of my favorite quotes from the movie is when he tells a student that “Life is not about whether you can or you can’t, it’s about whether you will or you won’t.” (Awesome quote!) Going back to what I said earlier, I was always trying to picture how I could live my life and I would actually get scared about making the right choices…I was scared I couldn’t…I was scared God wouldn’t help me. But you have to have faith…can’t ever say it enough and I won’t stop saying it in my blog because I want you to believe it. It’s real…and you have to be willing to want to change, to want to make the right moves in life, to love people everyday (love in…love out), and to keep your eyes on the prize.
My sweet grandmother on my mom’s side, who everyone in my family called our Mimi, just recently passed away at the age of 93. She was blessed to live a long and loving life…In her late years she suffered from the treatable but incurable disease of macular degeneration, which caused her to slowly lose her eyesight. But no matter how much of her eyesight she lost, she never took her eyes off the prize…she could still see it…I just know she could…because she lived it…She didn’t have to have her eyes, no, she saw the prize through her faith. I saw my Mimi recently two times before she passed away. One time was on Mothers day and the last time was the day before she passed. In those times I saw God work. On Mothers day I remember at one point she uttered the words, “You all look so beautiful…” and I knew her eyesight was gone completely…but looking back I wonder if God had granted her eyesight in her final days… And on the day before she passed in the hospital, my sister and I went to visit her…and I couldn’t help notice that her head was only faced one way…to the right…facing the window. I even walked around to her left side just to see if she would turn, but her head would never shift. It was as if she was looking out and waiting on God to bring her home…her final words to us were just the words “I love you.” Love is the only word she could speak on her last day…We sang her the song “I Love You Lord” and we opened up a mobile devotional app to read to her as she laid on her hospital bed. The app opened up and I immediately had chills all over me and felt God right there…He was right there…the title of the devotion that popped up was called “AS YOU SIT QUIETLY” and it read, “As you sit quietly in My Presence, remember that I am a God of abundance. I will never run out of resources…Through My Presence you gain glimpses of My overflowing vastness…these glimpses are tiny foretastes of what you will experience eternally in Heaven. Rejoice in My abundance-living by faith, not by sight.” Her eyes were on the prize…
THE QUESTION:
What would it be like to live every day by faith? To keep your purpose steady every day? To focus on the right moves? Don’t you think the prize would be incredible? Almost indescribable if you could even see it? What is the one way to keep your eyes on the prize?
THE ANSWER:
“I see skies of blue, and clouds of white. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…”
“What a Wonderful World” is a song written by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded and released in 1967 by Louis Armstrong. The song was originally written as a way to help the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life and also to offer hope for the future. OneRepublic is an American pop rock band that was formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2002 by lead singer Ryan Tedder and guitarist Zach Filkins. The band achieved their first commercial success on Myspace as an unsigned act. Tedder, raised by an extended family of missionaries and pastors in a Christian church, is a Christian himself and had the choice to choose between a Christian record deal or become a secular band and chose the latter. He feels he can have a much greater impact on the world with his music by not being labeled a Christian artist and I could not agree more…I chose his cover version of this classic song because this is the song I was originally going to sing to my Mimi in the hospital.
2 Corinthians 5:7 | For we live by faith, not by sight.
My grandmother’s story is a true and powerful story…as I look back on my past and all the wrong moves I made I also look forward to the right moves God has allowed me to make…Maybe that’s why God doesn’t reveal his true plan for us right away…He wants us to live by faith…keep your eyes on the prize…
My profession that God has blessed me with is a Graphic Designer. I have always said that my goal in my job is to bring other people’s ideas and visions to life…and you know God is the ultimate designer of everything. That’s what He wants too! He wants to give you life, He wants you to see the endgame, the prize, and He wants you to be happy and enjoy a wonderful life in a wonderful world! The answer section today is a little short…but I just really don’t know how else to say what I want to say…when it comes down to it it’s so easy if you just believe in God’s purpose, no matter how bad things seem to get…Remember in my last post about the verse that says “God sends us good times and bad times”? His plan for you is great. So keep your eyes on the prize…and the way to do that??? By truly living by faith and letting everyone else’s eyes see nothing but = LOVE. Nothing is impossible…
Philippians 3:14
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Watch, listen, and share what happens when you decide to live the next 10 days in love.
(Listen below to Wonderful World (Cover) by OneRepublic)
MEMORIAL DAY: Wishing true thanks and gratitude as we remember all of those who have lost their lives serving America in the armed forces. Today we honor them…and remain thankful for our freedom!
(Feature post photo by Liane Metzler)
If you are just joining Ten Days In Love and missed any previous posts click the links below:
Comments