Gift of the Day

Certainly not every day, but quite often there is a gift of the day.  A special one. 

Maybe it is a doe with twins feeling secure enough to walk nearby; maybe it is a brilliant red cardinal that reminds you of your dear mother who’s long passed; or an oriole that migrated hundreds of miles to return to your welcoming feeder.  Maybe it is a child standing alongside her mother in a grocery store aisle, who looks you in the eye and says hi.  Maybe it is looking into the eyes of your longtime life’s partner and still loving the color of his eyes.  Maybe it is the young waiter working and living in a foreign land who is flabbergasted that you know his tiny country and have visited it, who then becomes inspired and understands it might be possible to travel the world himself someday. 

In this life of travel, Stan and I have received many of these singular, miraculous gifts. They often bring us to our knees.  We wonder how, why, but we finally realize that these are God moments.  They make us feel we have just walked through a new dimension, had an epiphany.  Of all the sights we see and the adventures we have, these incredibly magical moments occur unexpectedly, sometimes for no reason at all except that God handed them to us.  They are gifts.

How often life distracts us, but gifts do come. We may die tomorrow, but Stan and I have emerged, after all the work and concentration to live, sometimes struggling to nurture our marriage, build a career, and rear a family, as a very satisfied couple who appreciate and welcome our rare but very simple gifts of the day. May you as well.