As different people spoke at Gregg’s funeral, I began to notice a pattern: he lived a full life; he loved deeply; and he laughed a lot. And, I’ve decided that in memory of our friend, and the onset of the New Year, I would like to look at these three elements and to see if I can apply them to my life.

In John 10:10 Jesus said that He came so that we may have life and have it more abundantly. The Amplified says it this way: "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." An abundant life is what our Heavenly Father wants for us; He sent His Son so that we may have it. And pursuing life, an abundant life, is a step in hope. When people have no hope, they are standing still and cannot see ahead in life. Hope is to, "cherish a desire with anticipation," as the Webster Dictionary puts it. That says a lot in a few words. Not only to have a desire, but hope cherishes it with anticipation. Wow! First, you must have a desire, then you must cherish it, and lastly, you must anticipate it. Take some time and meditate on that. What is your desire for 2010? Give it some thought. Pray about it. Once you have determined what it is, then cherish it. Create a mental picture of your desire. I see it as a little girl, gently holding her baby doll in her arms; think of cherishing something that way. It is precious, special, and must be cherished. Plan for it, pray about it, take care of it. And lastly, anticipate it, or better yet, pursue it and expect it.

What exactly am I talking about? Pursuing a full life, that begins with God, our Creator. To do that, we must pursue Him; spend more time with Him in prayer and in the Word. But, that’s not all. Have you set some goals in your life that you need to pursue? Do you have a hobby or something that you have wanted to do and you have been putting off for whatever reason? Have you wanted to lose weight, stop a particular habit, start a new regimen, and it just hasn’t gotten off the ground? Now is the time. Live a full life as God has provided.

Something that caught my attention at Gregg’s funeral was the fact that everyone who spoke believed that he or she was the most important friend in Gregg’s life. As we were talking and reminiscing after the funeral, we all came to the same humorous conclusion: Gregg made each one of us feel that we were the most important person in his life. And that was true in the sense that, while he was talking to you, he made a point to be interested in what you had to say and what interested you. All of his children and stepchildren (all eight of them) said that he always took an interest in whatever they were doing; that he would drop whatever he was doing, take notice, and spend time with them. That is "loving" unconditionally. We could learn a lot from his example.

How many times do we try to continue with what we are doing and juggle a conversation with another person? How many times are we guilty of putting someone off because we needed to finish our own agenda? Or, what about this one: how many times are we guilty of texting and taking phone calls on somebody else’s time? Oops. Better leave that one alone. Learn to love as God loves. Jesus was our example. Follow His example and love unconditionally.

"Live, Love, and … what was the last one? Oh, yes…To laugh. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart does good, like medicine,…" To laugh is to show emotion when finding amusement or pleasure in something. In this Year of Hope, learn to find amusement and pleasure in the everyday things. You may have noticed that my husband loves to laugh; it kind of runs in the family. We’re called the "loud family," but in reality, the loudness comes from the laughter. We love to laugh! And I hate to break it to you, but laughter is contagious. It’s the only thing I can think of that is good to catch. Have you noticed that just being around laughter makes you laugh? You don’t even have to get it, or understand why someone is laughing. Now, if you seldom laugh, you must be hanging out with the wrong crowd. God’s people are full of laughter because they have the joy of the Lord deep down inside of them. Gregg was a great example of living a full life, loving deeply, and laughing a lot. And now that we know the secret and understand the concept, to live a full life, to love deeply, and to laugh a lot, we win! We are victorious. And, we’ll have the last laugh.