A Precious Gift

So this past week got me thinking about a precious gift that I get. You get it, too. Every morning when we wake up we have been given a gift. The gift of another day to live and breathe, to be with our families. Another day of being alive.
Sometimes I get so busy or so caught up with other things that I forget to appreciate the fact that today is a gift to me. There wasn't a guarantee that I would get to see it, to live it, but here I am, experiencing it. I'll admit there are some days that don't feel much like a gift, but even the lousy days are another day of being alive.
You might wonder why I've been thinking about this topic and I'll tell you. I have been bombarded with reminders of just how precious life is and how quickly it can end this week.
One morning this week I woke up and checked my email, like I usually do. In my email was a letter from one of my friends on the Homeschool Lounge asking for prayer for fellow homeschool mom. Her three year old son was missing. I logged in to find out more details and there was an update. Her sweet little boy had drowned in the pond in their back yard. My heart just ached for them. So all week I have been praying for their family. I will continue to pray for them. From the later updates that I read, I know that this family knows Jesus and that they are praying that God will use this tragedy to bring people to Jesus.
Also this week it seemed like every time I checked the news I read about someone else dying. A 13 year old kid at football practice on his birthday while his mom was at home making cupcakes to celebrate his birthday died from an undetected heart problem.
There were other reminders. If the news wasn't enough to make me aware of my mortality, I could always open the email from my mom with an obituary of someone I "might" have known who was close to my age from my hometown. Obviously, my mother has reached the age where she scans the obits at least weekly if not daily. Thanks mom! (I hope you know I'm teasing you mom!) (and yes, she really does forward me obits from time to time).
So back to what I was saying...I know this sounds depressing and it was for part of the week. But then I had another request to pray for a young man in Iraq who had collapsed with a temperature of 108. I prayed and so did many others. He is now back in the states in a military hospital. I don't know exactly how well his is doing, but he's conscious and I think that he is on the road to recovery.
So there you have it. Each day is a gift. We don't know how many we get, so we should be thankful for each one and try to use it wisely.
If you think about it this next week, would you please pray for the family that lost their son and also for the soldier who needs to heal and thank God for the opportunity of another day while you're at it!