"Serve with nothing to prove, nothing to lose, and nothing to hide"

In today's sermon, the pastor exhorted us to "serve with nothing to prove, nothing to lose and nothing to hide." At one point, he said, "wouldn't it be nice to live in such a way that at the end of your life, you can say to your kids, live the way I've lived... live according to the example i have set for you...." His point is, very few of us could claim this. And while my mom was probably much too humble to make such a claim, I truly believed her life was exemplary in many ways.

Nothing to prove...
Mom rarely tried to prove herself. She had a quiet acceptance of her circumstances that in hindsight I can recognize as humility. I was a very sensitive child growing up and other people's opinion of me would often make or break my day. I remember my mom constantly reminding me that it doesn't matter what others' think about me. She would say, "Don't let others have so much power over your emotions" and as a child with intense emotions that were difficult to calm, i just didn't get it and didn't want to hear it. but over the years, and often at just the right times, i can still hear her voice saying "So what? who cares what other's think?" To live with an audience of one is truly freeing.

Nothing to lose...
Along with her "who cares what other people think" mentality, her "no big deal" attitude about so much of life reiterates "nothing to lose." One of my my favorite sayings of hers was "...the world is round. We'll get home somehow." We would often get lost on our weekend adventures out of town. Whether it was to the Exploratorium or Marine World Africa USA, we would always get turned around. There was either never a map or where we were wasn't on the map. So mom would just keep driving calmly. She never panicked. She never feared "losing face" in stopping to ask for directions.

Nothing to hide...
Mom was always honest with her emotions. Sometimes too honest. The good thing is, you never had to guess what she was thinking, and she always believed in the verse "never let the sun go down on your anger" literally. She was quick to resolve conflict and didn't hide much. I think because of that, she always lived lighthearted and free. Not that there was no pain or no trials. That was there too. It seemed, though, that her positive outlook allowed those other things to not touch her joy.

Do you have a story that you feel demonstrates these qualities in Esther? If you can think of any, please share!