Making the Most of What's Left

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do
than by the ones you did do.”

Mark Twain; Jackson Brown Jr: Tamera O’Brien

“IN THE END… We only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”

Lewis Carroll

Everyone has a bucket list.
We all have lists of things that we would like to do,
or places that we would like to go,
before we die and leave this earth.

On my list has always been the desire to serve overseas as a full-time medical missionary.
But I’ve never really done it. I’ve done some part-time medical service trips, but I never put everything
aside to serve long-term. Something always got in the way.

I am lucky because now I am going to do it.
I’m lucky because I can physically do it.
Saint Therese of Lisieux, the Patron Saint of the Missions, could not.
She had wanted to serve in Vietnam. But she died of tuberculosis in her convent in France before she had the chance.

Then there is the story of Dr. Powe.
Dr. Powe was a physician who also wanted to serve those in great need in the missions. At the end of his career, he joined the Mission doctors Association of Los Angeles. He completed their 9-month course of formation training. Just before his mission was to begin, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent treatment, but the treatment was not successful. He died of his cancer before he could go.
So yes, I am lucky. I have a great deal to be thankful for.
And I’m going to give it all I’ve got.