Sometimes life is so simple!

Two weeks ago I had the joy of taking CJ to her first concert. We attended the Big Daddy Weave, Beautiful OfferingsTour, with Jordan Feliz and Plumb. It was a fantastic show and we had a blast together. During the show, CJ walked from our “cheap seats” to the front row, where she stood just a few feet from the stage. She took pictures of the performers and even gave Plumb a little wave (and receiving one back!) as the artists performed a very engaging concert.

After each artist had performed a small set, Big Daddy Weave took the stage for a few songs. Then, following a short intermission, all three artists were on stage at the same time, and they led the audience in some great worship sets. As I looked down front at CJ, I noticed something precious: She was all-in during the worship set.

CJ is down in front, with her arm raised high, singing her heart out to God!

I could tell she was singing loudly, and as she swayed with the music with her hands in the air, she was thinking of nothing else but the music she was enjoying the words she was singing. It was beautiful.

White watching her enjoy the concert, I thought about all the things she wasn’t thinking about. She wasn’t worried about the upcoming election. She wasn’t worrying about the world terrorism issue, the bathroom debate or local law enforcement concerns. Not once did she ponder our family’s financial situation or even what we would eat on the way home. After the concert when I asked her what she was doing up front? She looked at me puzzled and said, “singing and worshipping, God...and waving to Plumb.”

Sometimes, life is so simple. Just sing, worship God and wave to Plumb!

In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” It’s so simple, just do everything you do with the aim of bringing glory to God. It’s simple, but certainly not easy.

Watching CJ I was reminded me of the key ingredients for making 1 Corinthians 10:31 a reality.

Don’t worry about what others around you are thinking. As Celina sat up front, took pictures, sang and waved to artists, she didn’t care what anyone else around her was thinking. She was living completely in the moment, almost as though there weren’t 1,000 other participants in the auditorium. It’s hard to live a life that brings glory to God, when you spend time trying to make sure others are happy with the way you are living.

Me and CJ enjoying a photo op with Jordan Feliz!

Engage in daily activities at 100%. Have you ever been doing one activity, while being focused more on the next activity? How about with food? Have you ever been eating, and while you’re still chewing one meal, you are already thinking about the next one? I am confident that one of the ways we bring glory to God in everything we do, is by being 100% engaged in whatever is in front of us, now. It doesn’t mean loving everything we’re doing, but it means giving it our all, our full attention, so that we are giving our best and not our left overs.

Enjoy what you do. While we may not love everything we do, we must be able to find joy in every task. As my close personal friend, Mary Poppins, has said, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!” Joy is a big ol’ dose of sugar that can overcome any kind of medicine. Maybe that’s why the writer of Hebrews tells us, that Jesus, “for the joy set before Him, endured the cross...” Jesus swallowed the bitterest pill of all (our sin!) with joy!

CJ and I had a great time talking with Plumb, taking some pics (Including one very silly one!) and having a CD signed. By far, CJ's favorite person of the night!

Savor the sweet moments, but don’t live in the past. A couple days after the concert, CJ and I looked thru the hundreds (yes...hundreds!) of pictures she had taken that night. It was truly a sweet night for her, and she savored it fully. Having her picture taken with Jordan Feliz and Plumb may well have given her the greatest satisfaction in her short ten year life span. And yet, as satisfying as it was, she wasn’t spending her day lamenting about “the good ol’ days” at the concert last weekend. She was fretting that she doesn’t presently have another concert on her agenda, nor the fact that she still owes her parents a couple of dollars for the extra CD she purchased from Plumb. She savored the moment for what it was, but she isn’t living her life in the past. If you cling to the past for any length of time, you will soon find it difficult to live 1 Corinthians 10:31 in the present.

Life is pretty simple sometimes, especially when we boil it down the basics. The king of basics? do everything in life with the goal of bringing glory to God. Do that, and you will be living the Overboard Life!

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!