Living Significantly

This week our friend David Grizzle came from Houston to speak to a group here in Charlotte.

David recently returned from a year long stint in Afghanistan. He took a leave of absence as a senior vice-president of Continental Airlines to work for the U.S. State Department in the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s transport and infrastructure.

The work was neither easy nor very safe (although very fulfilling). He was under armed guard each time he ventured out (even to church) and experienced four rocket attacks. Nor was it easy for his family (his wife Anne is a member of our LFM board) to have him gone for fourteen months, although they supported his sense of calling.

At dinner a guest asked him: “David, I have met some people who have lived through life-threatening times, and saw something special in them. Can you say that living through risk changed you?”

David dropped his eyes. It seemed nearly a minute passed.

Then he replied, “Yes, but it was not just being in Afghanistan. That was part of a time when I have been thinking deeply about life. And here is what I now know: living insignificantly is worse than dying early.”

Thanks to David Grizzle for words to remember – and to live:

Living insignificantly is worse than dying early.

Your friend on the journey,

Leighton Ford