Today is a gift from God

The holiday is over. The house is sadly quiet. When will I stop crying when my loved ones leave? I ask God to keep angels to guard them safely home.

I find little cars under the sofa and shoes that aren’t mine under the bed. Boys that use to live here are grown men with babes of their own. I smile when I see them wrestling on the floor, but it’s time to go. The goodbyes are over, and about 4 p.m. the phone calls come. “Hi, Mom. We’re home. We love you, Mom, and we had such a good time.”

Where did the time go? Wasn’t it just yesterday I had three little boys with skate boards and bicycles? Yet that’s life. I’m grateful that our sons teach my grandchildren to be honest and respectful and, most of all, to have faith in a loving God.

I feel lonely, but I must remember time is fleeting. Today is a gift from God. I realize today is up to me. The same amount of time I had yesterday will be today, and I can have a good day or a bad one. I make the choice for the kind of day. I love and enjoy my children, but I realize they have a life of their own.

So I get busy. I want to bless someone else. Did you know today is God’s gift just for you, wrapped in love? So let’s live in the joy of today. Give your wife flowers. Hug someone. Count your blessings. Appreciate a sunrise or sunset. Enjoy the smell of rain on the cement. Be grateful. Express admiration to someone you have long admired. Forgive all wrongs hurled at you. Fill today with gems of sparkling sunshine. Watch the “trees of the field clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

Be aware of God’s wonderful surprises today and the exciting life he gives. Your life is strengthened as you open this gift of today. Paint this day as carefully as an artist designs a magnificent painting. With strokes of beauty, you can find enthusiasm for life.

Be the goodness that overcomes the bad. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25).

Every day is another opportunity to be happy. Be glad for it. Please don’t waste it. Let’s not live in the past. Living yesterday brings up past mistakes and regrets. Worry takes on the sorrow of tomorrow and takes strength out of today.

We never lose the love for our children. God is like that, too. Yes, we feel some loneliness when our children leave home, but we know God’s children are always with him. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV).

Our children are glistening diamonds in our lives. Yet God’s love is more than that.

His love never ends!