dailydatewithgod

All the things that occur in our lives are gifts. “What?!” I know that is what my head used to scream at that thought.  How could that be true?  How could being betrayed by a loved one be a gift?  How could being in a car accident be a gift?  How could losing my job be a gift?  How could yet another relationship ending be a gift?  (Okay, so the last one sometimes was easy to believe 😉 )  Yes, everything is a gift.  Where we get lost is when we expect a gift to always be a “good” thing.  Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. Some take more time to unwrap.  Some don’t seem like gifts at first but over time and with hindsight we see how some of the very things that we wanted nothing to do with ended up being our greatest gifts.  It is through adversity that we grow. We face our vulnerability and see what we are made of.  And perhaps most importantly we are given an opportunity to reach out to God and to others because we recognize we cannot do it alone.  It is okay my child, we were not meant to do it alone.  When I look at the world and all the people in it, I realize that if I were meant to do it alone I would not be here.  God shows up everywhere.  When I am willing to re-see the situations in my life, it means I am willing to look at them through God’s eyes.  God’s eyes provide the lens of love and acceptance that allow me to see the gifts.  Left to my own devices even the gifts that look like gifts at the get-go will turn out to be the opposite because the eyes through which I see things is always looking for the flaw or in fear of when the gift will go away.  If I start out with a recognition that everything is a gift and I get to see how I will use it and in what way it will enrich my life and the lives of others, then I can do no wrong.  Life is 10 percent what happens and 90 percent how I react to it.  What will you do with all the gifts you are given today?  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to see one of the things that we least recognize as a gift and ask God–how do you want me to see this today?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen