A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile…..
A few years ago my cousin Brenda gave me a decorative tin bucket with a slotted lid. It’s labeled My Bucket List. It came with small pieces of paper for me to write down things I want to do and place them in the bucket. When each desire is completed, I’m supposed to remove it from the bucket.
Looking at this little tin bucket makes me smile. My bucket list philosophy is slightly different. I always put things on my list after I do them. That way I can say I’ve done everything on my bucket list.
You see, for me, life has been an adventure. Probably one I wouldn’t have chosen because my expectations as a child were never that high. Born in Missouri, I had never seen an ocean, never traveled outside of a five state radius, never flown in an airplane, or even ridden a train before I was eighteen. Poor families can’t afford to do a lot but we were happy just watching Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on a black and white TV.
Oh sure, I dreamed of being a famous singer or successful actress just like every other kid. But to be honest, I was thrilled to graduate from high school, be the first in my family to go to college, and study to become an elementary school teacher. However, God had other plans.
During my senior year in high school, I felt God calling me into a deeper relationship with Him. So after graduation, instead of applying to Harris Teacher’s College in St. Louis, I applied to a Christian college in Texas. When I received my acceptance letter, I was flooded with emotions—most were a mixture of elation and fear. I would be on my own with no friends or family. I had never lived away from home so the thought of being alone and that far away overwhelmed me. I spent much of my preparation time crying—mostly tears of apprehension, not joy. I’ve never been a “crier” so my parents didn’t know what to do with me. Of course, if I didn’t like it I could always come home, but if I was so miserable, why go in the first place? During one of my weepy sessions, my dad in exasperation said, “You won’t last two weeks down there!”
I sniffed and replied, “Oh, yes I will!” I think I was still tearing up when I boarded the train for Texas – my first train ride!
Now going to this Christian college was not on my bucket list, but it should have been because God used it to open all sorts of doors to adventure. Adventure means unusual, exciting experiences and activities. You know, things you would put on a bucket list.
While at college, I got to travel to California with our choral group. I saw my first ocean, my first palm tree, the Grand Canyon, my first desert, and even Disneyland – in color. Our senior trip was to Mexico City, my first time in a foreign country.
Getting married right out of college was not on my bucket list, but it should have been. Oh sure, I would get married eventually, but first I wanted to travel and see the world. I said yes to the proposal even though I cried the night before my wedding. It was that old elation mixed with fear feeling again. I still remember my future husband patting my shoulder and saying, “Don’t worry. You’ll like being married.”
Being married to a pastor is not the easiest of lives, but oh what adventures we’ve had! We have lived or traveled through all but one of the fifty states. (Somehow we missed Maine but plan to get there after we retire.) We’ve worked in so many wonderful places from sunny Florida to mountainous Appalachia to inner-city Detroit. We’ve enjoyed down-home cooking and ten-course meals served by white-gloved waiters.
Having a child during the first year of marriage was not on my bucket list, but it should have been. I wanted to wait until we had been married a few years before we had children, so I could spend a few years with just my husband, but that’s not the way it worked out. What a joy our three children have been! How much I have learned from each one of them! It’s as if God said, “You need children and you need them now.”
Sometimes my bucket list items came just by saying yes to opportunities. Going to China wasn’t on my bucket list but we jumped at the chance to go with a Better Business Association at an unbelievably low price because they needed people to fill their quota. We jumped at the chance to go to Nigeria and Ghana on a mission trip because our way was paid. We jumped at the chance to go to Italy because friends had a daughter there studying fashion design and we had free lodging. We’ve ridden camels to the Great Pyramids in Egypt, gone on safari in Kenya, leaned with the Tower of Pisa, climbed the hill to the Parthenon, walked in Paul’s footsteps in Ephesus, taken a gondola ride in Venice, taken a helicopter ride to a glacier in New Zealand where I ended up in waist deep snow, and trust me—this just barely scratches the surface.
Last year I added skydiving, parasailing, and zip-lining to the list. So you see, I write things on my bucket list after I’ve done them. Truth be told, I’m not wise enough to know what I should even put on my list. I’ve found that God knows better than I what I really want to do—and with God, the adventure possibilities are endless. And praise God, I’m not nearly as fearful as I used to be.
Have I done everything on my bucket list? Yes, I have—and I plan to do even more.
*****
Lord, I can’t thank You enough for all the experiences You’ve provided in this adventure called life. You’ve taken me places I never dreamed I would ever go. Sometimes I have to look back on life to appreciate it because it’s hard to see the beauty of something when I am too close. It has not always been an easy ride, but You have been with me every mile of the journey. I give You praise and thanks! Not only is my bucket list complete but my cup runneth over.
