yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift-that is why it is called the present

I feel so blessed...
So grateful...
So humbled...
So glad to be alive...

I feel like there is so much to observe, so much to learn, and certainly so much to do to help. All I can do is try to see each day for what it is...a gift. Lately I wonder how much I miss...was there a new flower that I forgot among the tall grasses, was there a stranger that I walked past that could have been a friend? With the clock ticking and the people rushing-how is it that I can see, and hear, and understand the importance of each day?

It all comes back to how carefully I listen, how diligently I search, and how faithfully I act. It appears that although there are so many things that are still beyond my locus of control, there so much that I can do within the realm of the present. Even with all that my past has dictated, even within the confines of the consequences chosen by those around me, I still have the choice to choose how I will act.

I can make everyday a not so ordinary day, I would even dare say an extraordinary day. Now, I know in a very real way, that this pathway is not easy. But nevertheless, I have faith that it is possible, and that's what keeps me going.

A gift.
A present.

Some thing freely given,
something given in return?

But if we did give thanks,
what is it that we do?

Can we thank the giver?
for He freely gave
and keeps on giving.

Just as we give to Him,
we give to others.

And so all must give,
because He gave so purely,
so humbly,
so completely,

as only He-

could give.