ur daily lives. And then, the branching out, of our lives - over countless past and future generations.

As I look around me at other people, I feel concern for the ones who seem to go through their whole lifetime ignoring their God given talents. They have missed so much the Lord desired for them. His desire and intention was to make their lives much more satisfying, happy and fruitful.

Even before I was born, the Holy Spirit gave me talents that would give me happiness and fulfillment in my life here on earth. I am now approaching my 79th year, and as I look back over the years, I am very much aware of how much those

We might ask: “What is life?”

LIFE, by definition, is the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body or inanimate matter.

Also, we could say: life is the physical and mental experiences of an individual.

Finally we can say: life is “a period of existence.”

Strong’s Concordance lists the word: life in 394 scripture verses throughout the Bible. The first mention of “life” in the Bible is in Genesis 1:20 where God said: “ Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Strong’s last mention of the word “life” is in Revelation: 22:19 where we are told: “And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

If we stand and look at the midnight sky, we see the seemingly endless universe that surrounds planet Earth. As far as we know, there is no evidence of life anywhere else - other than the prolific life we have right here on earth.

The other day, I heard an oceanographer on TV say:” Ninety percent of all life on earth exists underwater!” Figures like that can boggle our minds. As we look at the land-living people, creatures, animals and birds around us, they represent a mere 10% of all of the life on earth. Amazing!

So, what is life like? What is contained in what we call: life?

If we look at the word: L.I.F.E. as an acronym, we might consider each letter of the word as representing something like this:

L = love, laughter, lagniappe (bonus), largesse (liberal giving), legacy, leisure, lineage.

I= I, (me), idea, idenity, ideology, illimitable (boundless), illuminate, imagine, intimate, immortality,

F=faith, family, fame, fantasy, Father (God), felicity (great happiness), food, fortune, freedom,

E=ecstasy, effort, elate, eloquent, encourage, enjoy, eternity.

Perhaps, we could say life is like a relay race - where our ancestors have passed “the baton of life” to each of us. In the same way, in our lifetimes, we pass the baton to members of our family or to our friends as we run – together – as a team, in what we call the human race of our lives. A race without an end, a race that continues on into eternity for all believers.

Life can also be like a tree – a tree with many branches and, of course, deep roots. The branches we can visualize as being the many old and young members of our families, or the life-changing events in our daily lives. And then, the branching out, of our lives - over countless past and future generations.

As I look around me at other people, I feel concern for the ones who seem to go through their whole lifetime ignoring their God given talents. They have missed so much the Lord desired for them. His desire and intention was to make their lives much more satisfying, happy and fruitful.

Even before I was born, the Holy Spirit gave me talents that would give me happiness and fulfillment in my life here on earth. I am now approaching my 79th year, and as I look back over the years, I am very much aware of how much those t

velation: 22:19 where we are told: “And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

If we stand and look at the midnight sky, we see the seemingly endless universe that surrounds planet Earth. As far as we know, there is no evidence of life anywhere else - other than the prolific life we have right here on earth.

The other day, I heard an oceanographer on TV say:” Ninety percent of all life on earth exists underwater!” Figures like that can boggle our minds. As we look at the land-living people, creatures, animals and birds around us, they represent a mere 10% of all of the life on earth. Amazing!

So, what is life like? What is contained in what we call: life?

If we look at the word: L.I.F.E. as an acronym, we might consider each letter of the word as representing something like this:

L = love, laughter, lagniappe (bonus), largesse (liberal giving), legacy, leisure, lineage.

I= I, (me), idea, idenity, ideology, illimitable (boundless), illuminate, imagine, intimate, immortality,

F=faith, family, fame, fantasy, Father (God), felicity (great happiness), food, fortune, freedom,

E=ecstasy, effort, elate, eloquent, encourage, enjoy, eternity.

Perhaps, we could say life is like a relay race - where our ancestors have passed “the baton of life” to each of us. In the same way, in our lifetimes, we pass the baton to members of our family or to our friends as we run – together – as a team, in what we call the human race of our lives. A race without an end, a race that continues on into eternity for all believers.

Life can also be like a tree – a tree with many branches and, of course, deep roots. The branches we can visualize as being the many old and young members of our families, or the life-changing events in our daily lives. And then, the branching out, of our lives - over countless past and future generations.

As I look around me at other people, I feel concern for the ones who seem to go through their whole lifetime ignoring their God given talents. They have missed so much the Lord desired for them. His desire and intention was to make their lives much more satisfying, happy and fruitful.

Even before I was born, the Holy Spirit gave me talents that would give me happiness and fulfillment in my life here on earth. I am now approaching my 79th year, and as I look back over the years, I am very much aware of how much those

reatures, animals and birds around us, they represent a mere 10% of all of the life on earth. Amazing!

So, what is life like? What is contained in what we call: life?

If we look at the word: L.I.F.E. as an acronym, we might consider each letter of the word as representing something like this:

L = love, laughter, lagniappe (bonus), largesse (liberal giving), legacy, leisure, lineage.

I= I, (me), idea, idenity, ideology, illimitable (boundless), illuminate, imagine, intimate, immortality,

F=faith, family, fame, fantasy, Father (God), felicity (great happiness), food, fortune, freedom,

E=ecstasy, effort, elate, eloquent, encourage, enjoy, eternity.

Perhaps, we could say life is like a relay race - where our ancestors have passed “the baton of life” to each of us. In the same way, in our lifetimes, we pass the baton to members of our family or to our friends as we run – together – as a team, in what we call the human race of our lives. A race without an end, a race that continues on into eternity for all believers.

Life can also be like a tree – a tree with many branches and, of course, deep roots. The branches we can visualize as being the many old and young members of our families, or the life-changing events in our daily lives. And then, the branching out, of our lives - over countless past and future generations.

As I look around me at other people, I feel concern for the ones who seem to go through their whole lifetime ignoring their God given talents. They have missed so much the Lord desired for them. His desire and intention was to make their lives much more satisfying, happy and fruitful.

Even before I was born, the Holy Spirit gave me talents that would give me happiness and fulfillment in my life here on earth. I am now approaching my 79th year, and as I look back over the years, I am very much aware of how much those

fort, elate, eloquent, encourage, enjoy, eternity.

Perhaps, we could say life is like a relay race - where our ancestors have passed “the baton of life” to each of us. In the same way, in our lifetimes, we pass the baton to members of our family or to our friends as we run – together – as a team, in what we call the human race of our lives. A race without an end, a race that continues on into eternity for all believers.

Life can also be like a tree – a tree with many branches and, of course, deep roots. The branches we can visualize as being the many old and young members of our families, or the life-changing events in our daily lives. And then, the branching out, of our lives - over countless past and future generations.

As I look around me at other people, I feel concern for the ones who seem to go through their whole lifetime ignoring their God given talents. They have missed so much the Lord desired for them. His desire and intention was to make their lives much more satisfying, happy and fruitful.

Even before I was born, the Holy Spirit gave me talents that would give me happiness and fulfillment in my life here on earth. I am now approaching my 79th year, and as I look back over the years, I am very much aware of how much those

ur daily lives. And then, the branching out, of our lives - over countless past and future generations.

As I look around me at other people, I feel concern for the ones who seem to go through their whole lifetime ignoring their God given talents. They have missed so much the Lord desired for them. His desire and intention was to make their lives much more satisfying, happy and fruitful.

Even before I was born, the Holy Spirit gave me talents that would give me happiness and fulfillment in my life here on earth. I am now approaching my 79th year, and as I look back over the years, I am very much aware of how much those talents have benefited me during every one of my more than 28,400 days.

What are talents? For me they are simply what I do best. I mean by that, what I most love to do such as: think, write, invent, create, paint, carve, sail, fly, help people, laugh and love. I must say I am sorry I thoughtlessly ignored many of my talents in years past.

You see, there have been several times when circumstances forced me to make major changes in the direction I had planned for my life. This happened unexpectedly and at various times, but, looking back, I’m glad I had courage, faith and trust in God. He is the one who carried me through those struggles, helped me meet those new challenges and be successful.

Even now, as I look toward the days ahead, I am sure my God-given talents will continue to bless me in many unexpected ways. Then, later, during my life in eternity with my Lord, you can be sure I am going to say to him one day: “Let’s talk about life…”

Terry Weber 9/9/06