Welcome to the Infinitely Precious Podcast produced by Infinitely Precious LLC. Your host is James Henry. Remember, you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.

And so, beloved, it's me James and I want to talk to you about your life and about what your life says in this vast universe, in this world in which we find ourselves. You might say, what does he mean by that? Well, as you might guess I intend to say something about that. That something is this, every one of us has the opportunity and I believe not only the opportunity, but the reality of proclaiming good news by the way we live our lives. Some people do it in the words that they say.

Some people that we know will proclaim good news, the gospel if you will, if you're a follower of Christ, will proclaim the gospel from a position as preacher or teacher or someone will share a biblical story with someone that they know and that's one way certainly that we share good news. But sometimes just looking at a person's life, we see the good news that their life brings to light. I often sit with families when they come to the end of someone's life and talk a little bit about that person and hear stories about that person. And surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly to me anymore, almost always, even among stories about people who are not always remembered fondly, there is a tidbit of good news in the midst mixed into some of those stories. Their creative energy that reminds us of God's creative energy or perhaps their kindness, generosity, their even keeled approach to life.

All of those things speak to us a bit of good news about who God is. And so oftentimes at memorial services, funerals, celebrations of life, whatever you choose to call them, I get the opportunity to proclaim the good news as witnessed in the life of the person. I'm very close to doing just that thing when I am going to be talking about my father at his memorial service. And as I have thought about all the pieces of his life and what the way he lived and who he was reflected out into the world, I see you know the incomplete but the mirroring of God's goodness in him. And I see it in a lot of other people.

In fact, the further along on this journey of faith that I am and perhaps on this journey of life that I am, I see good news in a lot more places than I thought I might see them. As I see people who quietly live into their giftedness in a variety of ways, who are always present in ways, quiet ways or sometimes boisterous ways where they are. Your life proclaims good news. Your life is a witness to good news. No matter what walk of life or where you come from, it may be in the way that you speak to others.

Maybe people who really matter in your life but also people that you might never see again. People that you pass on the street, that you greet with a smile, don't even have to use words. And suddenly that smile changes the way the world is. Perhaps it's the way you walk gently on this world. You're careful about the way you use the resources that have been entrusted to your care.

Perhaps you find satisfaction in the simplest things. You don't require a big hullabaloo, so to speak, in order to really appreciate life. And that is a witness to good news. For some people it seems like there's always a need for more or bigger or better or to be recognized for the things that they do and some of those people proclaim good news even in the way they're recognized, But also the people who do so in quiet behind the scenes ways, those folks, those folks proclaim good news too. So I want to invite you to take a moment to ponder yourself, to think to yourself, what is it that is my gift?

What is it that I bring to this world that is unique about me? It's not just your name. It might be the way you speak. It might be who you share your life with. It might be your acceptance of other people.

It might be your willingness to change in the face of uncertainty. The stalwart way in which you stand up to the storms of life. It could be any of those pieces or all of those pieces. You know yourself best, Perhaps only slightly less than God who knows you completely, who sees you through and through. But you have a gift to bring.

You have an opportunity to proclaim good news. Sometimes it's with your words, but most often it's with your actions. It's the way you live. Too many of us know people who are good at saying happy words and then behaving in a way counter to the happy encouraging words they say. So, look at yourself.

Be honest with yourself. Take an inventory of who you are. Get out a piece of paper. Get out your journal. Write down the things that make you you, the aspects of you that are unique to you, not just the color of your hair or your eyes or the way you speak.

Although I'm told that one of the gifts that I bring into this world is the way I speak. Just this even keeled voice that comes out of my throat, out of me, brings peace to some people just the way I speak. That's a gift. That's perhaps my gift. The question is what is yours?

What do you bring into this moment and every moment? Your best moments and even sometimes your worst moments that is good news for someone who knows you or someone who doesn't? For something that can't know you in the way you're used to it like the way you treat the way you treat nature, the way that you reduce the amount of garbage and trash you produce, the way that you care for the animals in your life, The dog, the cat, the bird, the lizard, the snake, whatever other kind of animal you have. What ways do you care for others? After you've made that inventory of who you are, the gifts you bring and sometimes you'll discover that some of the gifts are some of your greatest weaknesses, How will you bring those gifts to life in the coming week?

How will you bring them to life right now? It's hard to plan and know exactly what's going to happen tomorrow. Heck, it's hard to know what's going to happen in thirty minutes. But you being you, you bringing your gift to the moment you're in makes all the difference, all the difference in the world. So be mindful of that truth.

Be mindful that your life proclaims good news even when you don't realize it. Who are you when nobody's looking? And when you don't realize who is looking, how are people learning from you? Is it you I started to ask the questions of a number of other characteristics just because they started to come to my mind. You know what your gifts are.

Look at the way people act towards you in certain situations. How they look to you. Could be your children or your grandchildren, it could be your friends, it could be your coworkers. How do they look to you? How do they see you?

And how can you bring out the best of you, even your failings, the pieces that you consider to be the weakest part of you, how can you incorporate them into the full picture, the full mirror of who you are so that you might reflect good news to people who meet you? Those are questions worth asking. Remember even if you choose not to reflect on these and don't wonder about what your good news is that you are still infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are. You're already a gift. I encourage you to be that gift now and always.

Until the next time we see one another, I wish you all the best.