Episode 1 – The Good Life

Episode 2 – God’s Surprising Love

Learn more about what it means to live the good life with her Bible study, Amos: An Invitation to the Good Life. Watch session one and get the first week of study for FREE here.

Learn how each book of the Bible uniquely communicates God’s love for you with Jennifer’s book, 66 Ways God Loves You.

It’s not any better today. If I have to count, I still use my fingers and break out into a sweat if one of my kids asks me a math question from their homework.

Here’s what is totally weird — I can do retail math. Give me a clearance rack in Macy’s and I morph into a mathematical genius — I can tell you exactly how much that cute blouse costs if it is 20% off the lowest price with an additional 15% off, subtracting the $17 from my gift card — in less than five seconds! It’s freaky. I am like a living, breathing retail calculator!

But, there is a math I am learning now while I am in the glorious middle of my life — a math I am trying to get really good at by doing it every day. I’m learning to number my days.

Do you number your days?

Let’s assume the average person in the U.S. lives about 27,375 days — for some people it’s more, for some it’s less. But, let’s suppose that’s our average. It’s like God deposited 27,375 days into each of our “life accounts.” We make a withdrawal every day from that account but we can’t ever make a deposit!

Girl, that kind of math will help us number our days and value each one of them. How about you? Take a moment and do the math, too:

1: Multiply your age by 365. That equals how many days you have lived so far — give or take a few.

2: Subtract that number (how many days you have lived) from 27,375.

That number is how many days are still in your account!

God has determined how many days we live, but we get to determine how we live those many days.

In other words, God sets the number of our days, but it’s up to us to make them count.

That is why we pray along with Moses, Teach us to number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12 ESV)

No matter what the average may be, none of us really know how many days are in our “life account.” Learning to number our days will give us wisdom to live each one wisely.

Wisdom helps us live each day like it was our last day and at the same time, the first day of the rest of our lives!

Wisdom helps us live, not just get through, each day with an understanding of our purpose and an awareness of God’s presence.

If you’re thinking about the days that you can’t get back, days you may have wasted or sped through, let me remind you — me — all of us — that a heart of wisdom that comes from numbering our days is also a heart that wisely moves forward, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. (Philippians 3:13 ESV)

Lord, You are our source of wisdom. We need You to teach us how to number our days. Make this truth come alive in our hearts, on our calendars, through the way we do life. Protect us against regret and guilt that could beat us up over the days we’ve already spent. Fill us with hope and anticipation over this day and every day to come. Thank You for new mercies every morning, great is Your faithfulness. Amen.

P.S. If this blog stirred up some regret from your past, check out 2 Simple Ways to Change Your Past. It will help you stop the past from ruining your future.

What do you plan to do with your remaining days? Share with us in the comments below.

Here’s the back story:

In college, my friend Tony broke up with his fiancé – or maybe she broke up with him — I never really knew for sure.  But, what was for sure is that the jeweler wouldn’t give him his money back when he returned the engagement ring.  Bad for brokenhearted Tony. Good for supportive friend Jennifer!

Tony had store credit and he wanted to spend some of it on me. Wow. No, not on another ring or a piece of jewelry, he wanted me to have something very special — a Lladro. Have you ever seen one? They are stunning porcelain sculptures with a brilliant crystalline finish. What really sets a Lladro apart is the flowers. Each one is individually created, petal by petal so that every flower is a unique, unrepeatable creation.

Then, the sculpture stays in the kiln for about 24 hours at over 1300º!  The result is that the Porcelain vitrifies, varnish crystallizes and the Lladró’s true colors come to the surface. So, you can imagine why they are so beautiful and so expensive. 

Tony  and I picked out a Lladro figurine of a woman with slender lines, wearing a graceful hat with one of her pale hands hovering over a delicate vase of flowers. She was beautiful.

On graduation day, Tony and I hugged goodbye and I left college with a diploma and a Lladro!

The Lladro moved with me from city to city, apartment to apartment, home to home. No matter where we lived, I always showed her off because she was such a treasure.

One fateful afternoon though — uh oh, here it comes– our four-year-old son Clayton was playing hide-and-seek near the table where the Lladro stood. You know what happened, right? A bump of the table sent her plummeting to the floor, chipping the tips of the petals on her flowers. My husband tried to glue her dainty pieces back together, but her bouquet was never the same. I know, what was I thinking leaving her there on that table where four-year-olds roam?

(Don’t tell Tony!)

So many years have passed since my Lladro became part of my life. She still stands up tall on a shelf in my office. I often run my fingers over her broken petals knowing exactly why I treasure her so much.

She reminds me of… me.

She reminds me of you.

We’ve all fallen and been banged up by life.

We’re all broken and flawed. But, just like that Lladro, we are still incredibly special because God designed and created us.

He shows us His love in the way He individually and creatively fashioned us. He shows us His love in the way He lets us go through fire so our true beauty comes out.

He shows us He loves us by placing us on the top shelf of His Heart.

In every word, on every page, in every chapter and in every book, God tells you He loves you.

Like my Laddro, you may be broken and no longer as put together as you once were. But, like my LLadro, you are still treasured. You may not feel worthy of God’s love, but God thinks you are worth His love!

My sweet sister, I created a video to help you know how loved you are. I asked some beautiful, ordinary, imperfect women to read my take on how God loves us in Scripture — 66 ways God loves us.

Check out this video to see how God loves you through all 66 books of the Bible. And, share it with your friends so they will know how precious they are to God too.

Oh my friend, the love of God is bigger than your brokenness.  It’s stronger than your past regrets; deeper than any failure or fear you may feel.

When you watch the video, let me know which book of the Bible meant the most to you in the comments.