A Gift

I know tis an overused cliche, but it holds so much truth.  Every day is a gift.  It is an absolute bloody
gift that I pray I will never forget. It. is. a. gift. Never guaranteed in our broken messuddd-up world.
Over the 70 years I have lived I have seen just how fleeting life can be. My dad died when I was seven. A college friend I spent spring break staying with died soon after in a car accident at the age of 19. Several Bible college friends were gone before there 50th birthdays. And in the churches we have served over the years? Too many died too young.

On a side note, many would say it "was there time"....or God needed another angel in Heaven.  No disrespect intended, but that is just not true.  It is the enemy who comes to kill, steal, and destroy, not GOD!  Jesus came so we could have an abundant life.  Bad things to happen.  People die too soon.  Thankfully we do have the victory so "death has no sting".  Eternal life with Jesus.  Another gift!

So, just how do we live believing everyday is a gift?  Especially when our circumstances weigh on us like those aprons the dentist puts on us before taking x-rays? 

For myself, God has been giving me a message over and over.  Praise Him.  Sing songs of worship.  Rejoice, despite what is going on.  Rejoice.  Love on those you love.  Always let them know how important they are to you.  Forgive each other.  And did I say love on those you love?  That can't be emphasized enough.  I picked up my gratitude journal and dusted it off the other day.  It had gotten waylaid and forgotten.  Writing down what precious gifts have come my way ~ in the form of fresh blueberries, a phone call from our son or daughter, a text from a friend.  Yeah.  Nothing is too small or too big to be remembered when we walk int he knowledge that each day is a gift.  Life is a gift.