Making Days Count

Today is Melissa's Birthday!  She was born 26 years ago today.  It seems like a long time ago in some ways, and in other ways not so long.  Melissa quoted a saying in her Prayer Journal .   "Don't just count your days, make your days count."   She believed it was not how many days we get on this earth, but how we use them!!  I know of a woman who is afraid to leave her house, a prisoner of her own mind, limited by her fears.  She may live a long time, but she is not well enough to touch people positively.   We have a choice to take each day, each moment, and make it count!  How?  By serving God and helping others.  The cross says it all: our vertical relationship to the Lord and our horizontal relationship with others are all that matter in this life.  So, today, I will connect with the people around me, as God sends them to me, and cherish the moments I have with each, just as I cherish the memories of my moments with Melissa. And I am so very grateful for each and every one: each moment, each memory, each precious person, and each day!  Hope your day is great!

Conquering Anxiety

"Everybody needs a half hour daily with God, unless you are really, really, really busy..................... then you need an hour."  An outburst of laughter from the listeners followed these words.  Who has time for reflecting, praying, meditating when life comes at us in double barrels?   Yet, truer words were never spoken!  The more we remember that Someone with endless power, limitless energy, immeasurable goodness, and total love stands next to us to help us through everything, the calmer we can be!  And, being mere humans, we have to work at remembering we are not alone-- with notes on the mirror or CD's in the car or whatever it takes to stay focused on God.  When my Dad's health began to deteriorate, my Mom asked me to embroider her a sampler for her wall:  "Lord, help me to remember that nothing will happen today that you and I can't handle."  She hung it on the wall facing her bed, so it was the first thing she saw as she got up every morning. And kneeling in prayer was the last thing she did before getting into bed each night. Melissa used "Our Daily Bread" books to read before retiring.  Those are the routines that keep us calm in every storm, and afloat in every hurricane!  So, I will make myself read the reflection on my computer "homepage" before logging into my email today, because conquering anxiety requires focusing on the Lord. Blessings on your day!