This past Friday I attended a memorial service in Seattle for Bruce Kennedy (probably best known as the president of Alaska Airlines from 1979 to 1991 during the company's meteoric growth and the one responsible for a Bible verse placed on every meal tray served by the airline) after he died tragically at age 68 in a small plane crash in central Washington a week ago. At age 53, Bruce had decided to leave his presitigious position at Alaska Airlines to pursue work he felt God was calling him to do mainly in mission aviation organizations.
My husband Paul and I had gotten to know his daughter Karin Kennedy when we all worked together at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church several years ago. Karin introduced Paul to her Dad. Ultimately, Bruce became a mentor, friend and boss to my husband Paul when Paul joined the board and eventually accepted the CEO position at the company that Bruce had co-founded called Quest Aircraft. His vision and passion in the last several years was dedicated to the design and manufacture of a replacement aircraft (a "bush" airplane) for the aging fleet of misison aviation planes and to make them available commercially to help finance the operation. It was on his way home from a visit to Quest in Idaho that Bruce, flying his own private plane, that he crashed on approach to a landing strip in Cashmere, Washington and was killed instantly. Here's a link to the story if you're interested: http://www.usaviation.com/news/alaska/
Bruce was a strong believer living out his purpose when God called him home. Sound familiar? Jesus also died living out his purpose. We all were given a purpose to live out while we are on this earth. The question is: Have we figured out our purpose and are we living it out? We don't know the number of days God has given each one of us. Am I spending them wisely?
I was reading Psalm 39 this morning. The psalmist says it so well: "LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you." - Psalm 39:4-7
Our culture has made it difficult to discern how to spend our days. It tells us something much different than God's word. We are encouraged to live for ourselves and to seek comfort and pleasure rather than to glorify God. May God give you clarity and conviction to discover your purpose and to begin (or continue) to live it out in a way that He will one day say to you, "well done, good and faithful servant!" much like He is saying now to my friend Bruce Kennedy. That is my prayer for you and for myself today. - Mary
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