Meant to live for so much more...

I can't help but be inspired every time I hear this favorite Switchfoot song. And it's more than just the rockin' guitar prelude. The words in this song are pretty loaded if you really take them in.

This song is even included on the Barbie Music Player. How in the world do I know this? Funny story...

My first venture outside of Atlanta in the weeks following Tony's accident was to good old South Georgia, home to my friends Casey and Kevin and 2 of the cutest little girls in the world, Chloe and Claire. We were at an outdoor mall and I took the girls over to see the fountain. Chloe asked why there was money in the fountain, so I explained that folks throw money in to make a wish. Out went her cute little hand, "Do you have any money, Melissa?" Of course, I'd give this sweet child any spare change I had. I gave some to Claire too and they both threw in their coins. As we walked away, I asked Chloe what she wished for, and without skipping a beat, she told her mother and I "a Barbie Music Player."

Casey and I had no clue what she was talking about, but thanks to Amazon and one day shipping, I ordered one without her parents knowing, and it arrived the very next day. Chloe was just beside herself to have a package with her name on it, and she was thrilled when she realized it was just what she wished for. Now, at this point, I confessed that I had sent it, for I feared she'd be throwing every coin her parents had into fountains to get her wishes granted.

So we opened it up to discover that it came complete with songs on it - probably not the songs Casey and Kevin would normally let her listen to. But hey, Chloe and I sure did have fun at our "dance party" in her room. The "Meant to Live" was the one redeeming song about the gift.


The chorus says, "We were meant to live for so much more. Have we lost ourselves?" My daily reading included these verses today, Ps. 39: 4-7:
"Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you."

So if our life is a mere vapor, and we really lived like it was, then we would really get the words of this song - that God meant for us to live for so much more than the worldly things that so much consume us. I need to hear that right now, as my day to day worries seem like unsurmountable mountains right now.

And, I have a great example to follow - that of my husband. Though his life was only 35 years, he packed so many meaningful events and relationships in it that most folks would not acheive in 100 years. Yes, I want him here; I would give anything for that. Yes, I am devastated that his life was cut short. Still, I cannot deny the fact that he lived a very full life, and I celebrate that. I celebrate that.

I seek to carry on that legacy:
to be intentional with my time, my relationships, and my resources;
to not get so worked up about the things in this world that are just merely things;
to commit to the Lord my wants and desires and allow them to be transformed into His.

And, so the song continues, "We want more than this world's got to offer..."

I want more than this world's got to offer...

Dearly loved, and living for more,
Melissa