What are the items on your bucket list?
If you don’t know what a bucket list is, it’s a list of things you hope to do or accomplish in your life-time.
The term “bucket list” was popularized by the 2007 movie “The Bucket List” which starred movie icons Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
In the movie, Nicholson, who is the wealthy owner of a chain of hospitals, ends up sick, sharing a room with cancer patient Morgan Freeman. They develop a friendship as they both endure lengthy medical treatment protocols.
With death looming, Freeman scrawls out a list of things he hopes to experience before he dies, such as “laugh until I cry” and “drive a Shelby Mustang”.
He quickly dismisses his notion as foolish and tosses his crumpled up list in the room’s garbage can.
Nicholson notices the list and retrieves it from the circular file and proposes that he and Freeman take a road trip to accomplish the things on the “Bucket List.”
The movie is funny and heart-warming as it urges its audience to reflect on what is really important in life.
For me, one of my bucket list items is to visit the home ball park of every major league baseball team. Jen has accompanied me to many “friendly confines” on this life-long endeavor in which I now have crossed off 20 of the 30 venues on my list.
Recently, Jen was able to cross off one of her bucket list items by obtaining her Masters Degree.
Checking off this bucket list item has been years in the making for Jen.
Jen actually started a graduate program quite a few years ago when our boys were still in elementary school, but quickly realized that the program she was in was not right for her.
Later, life circumstances, mostly health-related, prevented her from continuing her pursuit of this bucket list item.
About 5 years ago, Jen started thinking again about developing herself theologically and spiritually through a graduate seminary program.
After much contemplation and research, she determined that Talbot’s Masters of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care was the program that best fit her personality, temperament and ministry interests.
So for the past 4 years, Jen has been taking classes part-time, slowly and steadily progressing toward her goal.
In early May, Jen finally crossed that bucket list item off her list as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma.
I could not be more proud of her. I saw Jen start the program cautiously, wondering if she could handle the rigors of graduate level academia.
With time and mustard-seed faith, Jen’s perseverance has paid off, opening up new avenues of growth spiritually as well as new ministry skills to become even more effective in her ministry to young adults.
Thank you for your prayers and your partnership, which has helped Jen check off a life-long bucket list item!
The Lowedown 