IMPACT
Today's reading: Ecclesiastes 7-8

"A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume. In the same way, the day you die is better than the day you were born." Ecclesiastes 7:1 NLT

I have a friend.

A godly friend.

A wise friend.

A loving friend.

A beautiful friend.

A long-time friend.

Who has cancer.

Doctors say there is nothing else they can do. Her body is betraying her. Her strength is leaving. But her heart remains strong. Her love for her family and friends remains fierce. Her reason for living has not changed since her diagnosis--she wants to see her family under the saving grace of Jesus' blood.

The impact she is making right now is greater, stronger, more driven and intensified by the fact that she has been told she has fewer days than she'd ever dreamed. She is touching more lives now than she ever has--in more specific and deeper ways. She has found a courage in these days to broach subjects that may have been swept under the rug years ago.

God had a purpose for her the day she was born. A grand purpose. A life-changing purpose. A purpose that would be hers until she draws her final breath. A purpose her parents had no clue about.

She's living that purpose and I'm thrilled to watch her doing it with grace and wisdom and love.

I'm watching her live out the truth in this verse, the day you die (or the days in which you've been told death is coming) is better than the day you were born.