NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

Day 281 – Living in fantasy land

Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World

Scripture focus: Rick Renner’s translation…”It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to be lured into a situation that could potentially snare you in the feelings of offense….” Luke 17:1, Rick Renner’s translation (May 12th, Sparking Gems from the Greek)

If there was ever a time when the age-old cliché was true – behind every great man is a great woman - it’s in the life of Randy Pausch. With his wife Jai by his side, you get a sense of how strong and courageous she is too. This woman knows how to live with integrity. She’s a fully invested partner in the family of Pausch. In an interview with Diane Sawyer, Jai was asked about life with Randy. How does she bear up under this sentence of death?

She had a beautiful answer. But before we hear it, I want to tell you why we can trust her response. She and Randy didn’t try to figure out all the answers in isolation. They got counseling. They researched and discovered a therapist who specialized in this sort of hardship, and they went to her regularly and often for advice.

Lesson two: It’s not the foolish who seek wise counsel – it’s the wise. Learn how to ask for help, and choose your advisors wisely.

“Of course it is hard. But I had to figure out how to get through the day without crying. I needed to be able to watch Randy playing with our children in the snow, and not think – this might be the last time they ever build a snowman.” Jai is a woman who concurs with her husband – she tells herself the truth – all the time. But it is how she handles the truth that is so impressive to me. “So what I’ve learned to do when those thoughts come is to say to myself – NOT HELPFUL. And move on. This works most of the time. It enables me to enjoy each moment more fully.” Not helpful is a pretty huge principle. Let’s close out today’s devotional with some things that are not helpful….

It’s not helpful to wallow in self-pity.

It’s not helpful to focus on a problem more than the solution.

It’s not helpful to allow ourselves to be lured into the role of victim.

It’s not helpful to live life wrapped in a coat of anger.

It’s not helpful to cry “unfair” all the time.

It’s not helpful to continually set ourselves up to feel terminally unique.

It’s not helpful to live in isolation.

It’s not helpful to live with half-truths and whole-lies.

It’s not helpful to be so concerned with self that we forget God’s call to love him and others.

It’s not helpful to live like the Little Red Hen – a favorite childhood storybook character – who always believed she had to do everything by herself (an early portrayal of raging codependency).

Recommended reading: Jeremiah 11 and 12 in the morning; Colossians 4 and Psalm 56 in the evening

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