take time

I find it interesting that on Sundays, many people complain of the next day being Monday! Can one not even enjoy the day they have without moaning about the next one?
The past couple of nights, I have not been able to get much quality sleep due to the extreme pain I feel from my Rheumatoid arthritis. It is like the first day of a bad flu--remember how that feels? You are feverish and just ache all over and can't find a comfortable spot? Then you become crabby because nothing is alleviating the discomfort...and on it goes. I deal with this almost daily and have for about twelve years. I try to not complain, I mean, who wants to hear it, right? Yet for me, the advent of a new day gives me opportunity to hope that maybe today will be different and that I can maybe get a small nap in to feel refreshed. Maybe.
Tomorrow is not granted to us, we only have this moment. The news lately has been all about those for whom life was going along merrily, then some tragedy took it all away in a heartbeat. We tend to think it won't happen to us, but there is always that possibility.I thought I was invincible too, until the days when I began to feel so absolutely miserable and was given this diagnosis. Yet I have found out it is how one deals with the aftermath that counts.
This morning I looked out my kitchen window as I washed the breakfast dishes. It was still early; although light outside, the sun hadn't come up yet. There at my bird feeder, was a pair of cardinals, feeding together. Side by side, then both took off together for adventures elsewhere. I marveled at the sight, giving thanks for this small miracle.
How many of you wake up, giving thanks for this new day? Hmmmm...maybe...after that cuppa coffee? No? Well, how about at day's end? Too tired, eh? Yet gratitude is so important! Another day done...or a new one beginning. Another chance to see all of the small miracles that God has in store for us if only we'd seek them out! Our friends, our families, our jobs....having a place to live and food to eat. Then, share that gratitude with others, for so many do not have even those simple pleasures. Today, stop, look, listen! There are miracles all around you---take time to feel them, to see them, to hear them...then give thanks for all that you have been given.