My wife and I went to a Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band concert last week. It was in our bucket list to do. I was decked out with a bright colored hawaiian shirt and an even brighter colored big parrot hat on my head. We had an absolute blast!
What’s in your bucket list? Maybe you don’t call it that, but there are a few things you really hope you can do one day. Great! Do what you can to get there and then, when the day arrives, there are 3 things you can do to make it a memorable time.
First, even as awesome as you hope that day is, realize that negative things may happen alongside the good times on your ‘bucket list day’.
Doreen and I knew that there would be people drinking excessively at the concert. We had one such man sitting, standing, dancing, and singing next to her. It seemed like at any moment him and his beer were going to fall on her. Good thing that didn’t happen. Of course, I’m a pastor, and the last thing I wanted was to get into a brawl with some obnoxious individual, be cuffed, and eventually hauled out to jail. The newspaper headline would read, “Pastor of church arrested for disorderly conduct.” We were a little on edge for a good part of the time but kept our composure because we expected some of that.
We also expected to smell some ‘bad skunk’ (weed) here and there… and we did. But didn’t see anyone smoking, though. What I’m saying is that you need to have realistic expectations for your special day.
By the way, if you’re thinking, “How can a pastor go to a place like that?” Don’t judge me! There were a lot of nice people around as well, like the couple sitting next to us on the other side. Also, as we were walking to our seats a young lady tapped my wife on the shoulder and handed her $20 saying, “This fell off your back pocket.” Wow! What integrity and good heart! May God bless her for for it.
Also, to make your day memorable, look for the favor of God.
We stayed at a real nice Embassy Suites that had Royal Swans in the lobby. That was cool. But when we were checking in the man behind the counter said, “We’ve upgraded your room to the Presidential Suite.” Doreen and I were like, “Whaaat?” They also had a gift bag for us and because we had to wait a few minutes for the upgraded room to be ready, the hotel gave us a $25 gift certificate to use at the restaurant or room service.
The Lord had them treat us like a king and queen. We attribute that to the favor of God. And, when the packed out concert was over and we expected to have to wait in a traffic jam for a long time, security opened an exit to the place the moment we were there and we missed most of the traffic. Favor!
Sometimes the last thing we do in life is keep an eye out for the favor of God. Do that more often. Look for His favor on your bucket list day; it all adds to the joy of the experience. The apostle wrote,
“Tell those who are rich in this present world not to be contemptuous of others, and not to rest the weight of their confidence on the transitory power of wealth but on the living God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment.” (1Timothy 6:17, PHILLIPS)
Isn’t God great? He is concerned with our enjoyment!
When the day finally comes to do what you want to do, thank God for the moments and squeeze all the juice you can out of them.
One more thought, from one parrot-head to another (or whoever you are) find someone you love and have the time of your life! The Coral Reefers played a lot of the songs we knew, we laughed a lot, took crazy pictures, lived like the rich and famous in the Presidential Suite, and savored every moment.
Please feel free to leave me a comment or share with me what’s in your bucket list. Thanks for reading!!
The only thing I have left on my bucket list is to go to Ireland and Scotland. God has been so good to Joe and I throughout the years. We’ve even had some free trips to Germany and The Netherlands. The point is we look back and see God’s favor all through our lives. If I don’t get to go on my Ireland and Scotland trip I’m okay with that. One last thing on my list is to be taken up to heaven before I die. I would absolutely live to see Revelations come to life in real life. Come Lord Jesus come!
What a great pair of bucket list items, 2 trips: one, to Ireland and Scotland and two, getting a lift from Jesus up to heaven. Wow! I’ve never heard of that item in a bucket list but it definitely tops them all! Thanks, Judy.
AWESOME, Yes Judy that would be awesome, wow to go to heaven before I die, Lord bring it on!!!!!!!!!
Yes, c’mon, Lord Jesus!
I was truly blessed to be with my husband at this concert. God used our girls to provide us with a concert of a life time….. The music was great the people next to Jorge were very nice and then we got amazing seats to see it all. God truly was in control of our night despite all the drinking and smoking that was going on…. I look forward to see what God has in store for our next adventure. Thanks again to our girls and the Lord for a wonderful time.
Totally agree!!
What an awesome God we serve! You can’t out-give Him! The favor of God is amazing!
Awesome indeed!