Here is an article I am writing for my church newsletter. You will see many Brookisms:) Thank you Brooke for this inspiration!

What if today was your last day to live? Nope, that line was just my hook. What if you made a timeline and wrote zero on the left and one hundred on the right. What if you will live to at least one hundred? Say what? You heard me, what if you lived to one hundred?! Not in a nursing home barely functioning, not in chronic pain waiting to die, not in regret.
What if you had ten, twenty, or even fifty years left of quality living? With our advances in science, that is not so far fetched for many many people. How would you live your life and fill your days with purpose? I look at my own life and see that I have just really started to live with purpose. I can decide to fill my days with positive people and positive thoughts. I can be thankful to God for every situation that has led me here and know it all happened just as it should have, and I am better for it.
That leads me to today. I can plan for the future, with excitement, just as I did when I was twenty. What if the end of my teaching career was the beginning of my writing career? How would I live then? My possibilities are endless. Moses spent forty years in the desert just getting ready for his role in the Israelite’s liberation. Then he spent another forty years in the desert getting them ready for their destiny. We never know the extent of our life, or the people we will impact along the way. So instead of living like it is your last day on Earth, live like you have many years to make a difference in the lives around you. The second half of John 10:10 has Christ saying “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” That is my wish for all of you. Have an abundant day!
Kim Pendleton