Month: March 2018

Last weekend, Wendy and I had the chance to get away for a quick trip to the beach.  It was wonderful.  It was chilly outside so there were not a lot of people.  We could walk on the beach without our shoes but still too cold for shorts.  It was peaceful and refreshing.  I am grateful for those moments in life.  As soon as we returned, life kicked back into high gear – the same gear it was in prior to the trip.  I live most of my life like that, and to be honest, I like it that way for the most part.  I enjoy what I do and am grateful for the opportunities I have been given.

This weekend, I couldn’t help but think how great it would be to go back to the beach.  Another weekend to breathe and rest.  On the surface, it sounds wonderful.  But, do I really want to live my life for short trips?  Do I really want to live so that my excitement is found in a few days away?  I don’t think so.

So many of us live for the weekends.  Mondays are dreaded.  We are excited for hump day because it is one step closer to Friday.  Fridays are celebrated.  It is a cycle we can easily embrace.  I wonder, though, at the end of life, if we will only be thankful for the weekends.  I wonder if, by celebrating only Friday through Sunday, we might miss the gifts of Monday through Friday.

Recently, I have spent more time than usual with those that have lost loved ones.  It is a gift that I treasure and take seriously.  I see God in those moments like no other.  He reminds me he is present and that he loves us.  Some of these people had lived their lives and were ready for whatever God had next.  They had celebrated and served and done all that was asked in this life.  They were prepared.  Others, though, would have liked to have had one more day.  They would have liked to have sat at a dinner table and enjoyed one more meal.  They would have liked to have taken one more trip.  They would have liked to have walked one more mile.  Some would even have been thankful for one more Monday…yep, that’s right – a Monday.  Why?  Because each day is precious.  If we only live for the weekends or for the special moments, we miss the moments that are special all throughout our lives.  Maybe we should live celebrating each new day.  Maybe the key to life is not to just look forward to Friday, but to look forward to the gift of another day.

i have written and said many times that each day is a gift.  I wholeheartedly believe that.  I also believe that if we live our lives just for a weekend or a special occasion that we will end our lives having missed the gifts of the other days God has provided.

Today is another day…Aren’t we grateful we have one more day?  May we live grateful…even when Monday comes.

Do you look for it?  Can you find it?  Have you really searched?  I’m sure it is there…

Years ago, the “Where’s Waldo” books and puzzles were everywhere.  The goal was to see if you could find where Waldo was in the picture…hidden, in plain view.  It is interesting how once I found him, I thought about how he was right before my eyes the entire time, but was a struggle to find initially.  Things are right before us, but we miss them.  As a kid, I would look in the cabinet for a snack.  I knew the snack was there…I knew exactly what I wanted…my mouth watered for it…but I just couldn’t find it.  My mom would tell me where it was and still…nothing.  She would walk into the kitchen, pick it right up…and say, “if it was a snake, it would have bit you.”  Yep…right before me, but missed.

I find that some days life is like that.  There are gifts in each day…little bits of joy, excitement…little reminders of God’s presence.  They are always there.  It can be in the smile of a stranger, in the hello of a friend, in the text of someone special, or simply in the rise of the sun.  But some days, it is a struggle to find it.  It is difficult enough just to get out of bed and find my way to the coffee maker…the magic juice that helps my eyes to open and my brain to function.  When the weather is dreary, cold, and by my estimation…just miserable…I find it an accomplishment to have made it through the day.  Yet, just simply “making it” through the day is “wasting it” through the day.  This day, this moment has a gift that is right before us…yet often hidden in plain sight.  We don’t see it because to see it might mean we quit whining and move out of our pity party to see what God has for us.  It might mean that we choose to see the sun in the love of another.  It might just mean we open our hearts and minds to see what is around us…opportunities and blessings.

Today, I pray that we find the gifts in today….They are there…God has not forgotten us…God has not abandoned us…the beauty of the day is right before us.  The joy is even found at…yep, even found at work.  It is found in the small, little moments that can turn a day around.  Even on the most challenging days, there is a glimmer of hope…it is there…it just may be hidden right in plain sight.  Today…where is God in your life?  He’s there…you just have to look.  He might surprise you if you take the time to see.