10,457 + 5,000

What would you do if you had an extra 5,000 days to live?

It's a kind of hypothetical question that rarely comes with any degree of certainty. I don't know that most people would change a thing.

Today, I am 5,000 days older than my biological dad was when he passed away. He accomplished a lot in his life, more than me so far in several cases. He was married, had a kid (me), and had clear ideas of what he wanted to do (be a missionary) and where he wanted to do it (remote Venezuela). Had this plan not been interrupted when it was, it may have met another interruption that came later.

If there's one thing I've learned from the circumstances of his passing, it is to not overwork myself, which I can easily do. His heart gave out after a week of utter exhaustion. My highest-paying job to date was one that literally could have something for every waking hour: business hours, production hours, and everything in between or until midnight sometimes. When emotional stress was piled on, I finally moved on to other things.

While I still grew up an MK, I grew up in the States. I am grateful for my familiarity with the free country by which God has so richly blessed us. This motivates my desire to stay current with what happens in it, and why I live near its capital.

Like my parents, the Word of God is my mission. That's why I read it, memorize it, study it, proclaim it, share it, give it away, bring it into cultural conversations, build my life on it, teach it, and hope to help it shine forth in every area to which it speaks.

While we all have a similar mission from God, He has a unique path and number of days for each of us on this journey to our destination. By God's provision I have had more days with different accomplishments so far than my first dad.

In the end, the goal for each of us is to make the most of what God has given—including all our days—us as we seek to please Him.