It’s all too easy to focus on what we don’t have, what has been withheld, rather than what we do have.

But if we aren’t careful we miss all the thousands of gifts that are ours.

Yes, if it would have been up to me, I would have been  married at 22 and had a house full of smiling children.

Instead I have had the priceless privilege of being a first grade teacher of hundreds as well as now being a counselor, coach and freelance writer.

The securities that I would have clung to have been ripped away

     so that my life is anchored by the One and Only One.

Tough lessons.

Uprootings,

   Broken dreams

     Songs ended

         Treasured moments carefully wrapped up

            And cherished deep within

             Far from human eyes.

  Life is not fair.

  It is not easy.

But God is good all the time.

In the midst of moments when I have wiped salty tears away from my eyes

     I have clung to His promises.

His promise to bring beauty from ashes

  And strength from weakness.

  In His time.

 

Shining moments are easier to see from that backdrop of darkness and pain.

Maybe that is the reason my heart leaps with joy

   when I see someone helping an elderly woman cross the busy street

    or choosing to adopt

        or spend a weekend building a home

           or volunteering at the Food closet.

           or just writing an email to encourage

Life is meant to be received.

All of it. The good and the bad. The easy and the difficult.

And as we open our arms to receive life as it is

    We discover we receive an abundance of love, joy and peace.

God simply loves to give to us His very best.

    Gifts that lead us to know the Giver.

Look for the shining moments all around you, dear friend.

Seeing them changes how we see everything.