Daylight

It's a new day God and its beautiful. The sun is just coming up over the trees, the air is cool and comfortable, it's quiet in my normally busy neighborhood, and life is good. Because it's a new day and it's beautiful.

Thank you God for this past year-and-a-half and the way it's changed my life. I've such a new appreciation for the blessings I have and for the life I've been given. I'm so grateful for every little thing that makes life special - the laugh of a child, the warm smile of a friend, the touch of a loved one, and beautiful mornings. I approach each day with a positive attitude because I know how lucky I am to be healthy and feel good. It's as though I've been re-born physically, and I'm so grateful.

Dear Lord let me fully enjoy this day! Allow me to take the negative things that may be part of it and learn from them. Enable me to live with enthusiasm and not just sleep-walk my life away. Help me to be a better person and to make my life as much a gift to others as it is to me. May I give my all to you every moment and may I do your will with love. And most of all, Lord, make me truly grateful for every day because every day is beautiful.

There are days

Oh there are days Lord. Oh there surely are days.

Some days, like today for instance, nothing seems to go quite right. I make the wrong choices, I say the wrong things, and everything I try to do goes wrong. I don't know why it happens and I can't predict it, but it seems to happen on the heels of a really good day, when everything goes right and good things are accomplished. Is there a connection God? Does the enemy see things going well and zero in on your child so there are roadblocks and things just don't go as smoothly as possible? I wonder about that. I also wonder if it's my own fault because when things are going well I tend not to depend so heavily on you. and yet you want us to always lean on you and always seek your guidance. Forgive me for ever depending on my own strength or wisdom, for I will always fall short.

There are days like this Lord and I learn from them. May there always be days like this.

Summer days

God I hear you in the summer days. I hear your voice in the songs of the birds in the morning, I see your hand in the sight of the fireflies in the evening, and everywhere I am reminded of what a wonderful gift the world is. Seeing what surrounds us, experiencing life, and not recognizing your hands at work would be like eating a gourmet meal at a fine restaurant and wondering whether there was a chef involved. I cannot question your presence because it's everywhere, all around me. And it's glorious!

Thank you Lord for your beautiful creation. Thank you for the blessings of this world, for the special places we enjoy and for the people who make our lives rich and full of love.

Surrounded

I am loving this time of the year, Lord, when we are living outside and spending lots of time together - I'm surrounded by my family and enjoying life so much. What a difference a year makes!

Last year I was barely able to function as I worked through the process of fighting my disease. I was doing chemotherapy, my iron was so low they had me taking three iron supplements a day, and I felt like a wrung out dish cloth. This year I feel like a new person, with energy and vitality and a true love of life. God I am so grateful!

Nothing gives us an appreciation of life the way a brush with death does. And nothing makes us appreciate feeling good the way feeling lousy does. And I'm grateful for those reminders that things do not always go smoothly here on earth. Sometimes there is heartache and sometimes there is pain. Sometimes we cry out for your presence just to get us through the day. And often times we take the blessings we have for granted.

Lord, more than anything else I ask that I never again take for granted the joy of a normal, healthy day. Please remind me God that it's not always something to be had and that those of us who do are blessed beyond words. I am eternally grateful for your touch on my life.