RIP Lily

I heard the news today that an old classmate died of cancer. It made me stop and think a lot about how fragile life is. Lily was that popular girl in high school everybody wanted to be friends with. She was so beautiful and so full of life. 30 years later I see her visiting El Salvador looking for a place to build an orphanage, totally committed to do the Lords work. She had found Jesus. 

We spent a beautiful day together at the beach house in Miravalle, in Sonsonate near a lot site she was looking to buy and talked about our lives. I told her about how my life is centered on my core believes as a Mormon and she told me that she had changed from being a little self centered as a teenager to totally dedicated Christian. I was so impressed by all the things she was doing to help the children of El Salvador.  Six years later she is gone from  this mortal life. A fact that it could happen to me and to any one of us, at any time. Life is a gift. It is a brief time where we are given the ability to have a life, to be with people we love, and to live in a way that will make a positive impact on this world and the people around us so that when that day comes for us to be taken from this earth that we can go knowing that we did something worthwhile with the life we were given. Lily did just that. She lived a full life and the world is now a better place because she was in it. She had so much love to give. Henry Drummond said:

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”  

At the end of the day that is really the only thing that matters in life.   To do something worthwhile with the life we were given, to lift people around us, to help others to excel, to give love, and to make a positive impact on this world.  When our time comes and this life ends I hope we will all have the peace of knowing that we did something good with our gift of life.

Never allow yourself to get bogged down in the negativity or wrongdoing of others.  What matters is how you live your life, despite anyone else around you.  Don’t ever let the negative actions of others determine the way you are going to live your life.  Live your life in the way that you are proud of no matter what others do.  Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of justifying bad actions on your part based on someone else’s bad actions…never.  Be the person you ought to be regardless of what anyone else does, says, or thinks. At all times and in all circumstances. I love how Lily was never afraid to take a stand on what she believed in. She had so much faith and prayed to the Lord constantly for guidance. She believed in whatever she was doing came from a divine being. She believe she could make a difference. Never let your thinking be limited on the positive impact you can have on the world.

 “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”     -Edward Everett Hale

Today’s post is to remember that life is fragile so live it the very best that you can.  Remember that the only way to be certain that those around you know that you care is for them is for you to both tell them and show them every single day.  None of us know when our time is going to come to leave this life, so all we can do is live each day is such a way that when that time does come we can be proud of how we have lived it.

Lily's children are so proud of their amazing mother for the light she radiated. On facebook one of her daughters wrote: " People call this the end but in reality is the beginning. It's morning and my mom is gone from this earth. We are all selfishly devastated. Mom was such a gift and a light in each one of our lives. Now she dances with the one who is the light. A man once wrote after the death of his loved one, ' The light has gone out of my life' but that is not true for me, my mom is the candle that went to be with the Sun. I live in the rays of that Sun." I know Lily still lives and will live in the hearts of those like me she touched with her light.