So the funny thing is, this post tried to take over Monday’s spot, until I pulled it, to show it who’s the boss!  So, if you saw it on FaceBook or got it in the mail and then couldn’t find it here, that’s all me.  If websites had bloopers…

You know how they say the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions?  Well, that might be a little harsh for this post, but let’s just say I seem to have made my life’s work in the planning, but not always the actual execution of the plans.  And y’all, this has just grieved me!  Looking back, I have many regrets.  Sometimes, I like to take them down from the shelf, and dust them off, and hold them close, and look at them.  This is usually when I am feeling too fat for my jeans and guilty about a bowl of ice cream and too much laundry is piled up…you get the idea.  Do you do that too?

So, this is just sample from my lowlight reel: Missing the childhood of each niece and nephew ‘“ military life.  Small, dinky wedding – not that I wanted a big one…just something more…special.  Almost no professional photos of my kids when they were little.  Girls, can I tell you that every day was a struggle for me at that point, and the thought of raising the bar for my day by planning something that needed to look perfect ‘“ well, that was just too much.  I had no one to enjoy those early years with…not much family near us…my husband was gone, or sick, or in transition at work, so most of the time I felt all alone and I held it together as best I could, but I was living in survival mode.  For years.  It was my normal.  And last year I realized I don’t know another way to live.

When you live in survival mode you don’t plan much, because you aren’t sure it will happen.  You don’t risk much, because you can’t bear the disappointment.  You stop dreaming because you’re afraid to hope for something better, and not get it.  Sometimes, you even stop praying because it hurts so much when you get a “No” or nothing at all in reply.  And you understand what Jesus was offering when called Himself the Living Water, because you know what it is to thirst:

• Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14).
• For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants (Isaiah 44:3)
• And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11).
• They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7:16-17).

Then, God brought us to the Arizona desert to water our family.  He is so ironic.  The Lord has given us good friends, and a great church, and all those lessons from the dry and thirsty years.  And, now that I have learned how to breath in and out, I know I need to learn to drink deep and live, really live.

I started brainstorming about what it might mean to grab a bucket full of life and live it, and here is my stream-of-consciousness-bunny-trail about how to write a Bucket List:

• Be Intentional
• Be a Planner
• Be Spontaneous
• Dream Big
• Enjoy Small
• Get Creative
• Get Real
• Build upon the Word – remember that every day, in your response to your experiences, you are building your worldview
• You are not an island.  You are part of the Body of Christ, so act like it.

On Monday, I will post our more specific Back to School Bucket List.  My plan is to keep running bucket lists for each season and document my progress.  I would love for you to join me!  I am going to set up a Pinterest Board and FB Group.  Please let me know in the comments if you would like to be a part of The Bucket Brigade!  I’ll be partnering with a familiar friend and a new one too…my cup runneth over!