"Begin each day as if it were on Purpose"

"Teach us to number our days

that we may gain a Heart of Wisdom."

Psalm 90:12 

You might not see a box or a bow but the Lord has wrapped today up as a gift.  A simple mystery set in the sunrises and sunset  made  just for YOU to unwrap.  However, the gift is time sensitive. It cannot be unwrapped tomorrow for it will not be there, and yesterday it had not arrived - however, TODAY is filled with surprises that have never been or will be again. 

You see my friend, I woke with a time sensitive heart this morning. I knew what some of the day would be filled with and what the other part should be filled with however, i knew not the surprises he would allow me to see.

It  could have been a normal trip to Olive Garden, with a dear sister of mine however, because of a task i was aware of - it was my duty today to provide opportunity. So that is what I did. It was no ordinary  pizza and salad day at Olive Garden, instead this lunch was a chance to live today as though it could be my last. You might be wondering if I would really choose to go to olive garden as my last meal - and to that i reassure you - I would not! However, my sweet sister had always had her mind on Olive Garden to be a place in which she fulfilled a item on her "bucket list."  That item being - Letting the CHEESE pile high on the salad ----- Yes, such a simple task but one unfulfilled item on a bucket list-----until today!

So, as I saw the waitress approaching with the opportunity salad I pushed a card across the table  that said  " TODAY, DON'T HOLD BACK", live it as it were your last" So after two blocks of cheese now on our salad, my sweet sister could finally cross off "letting the cheese pile high on the salad" off her bucket list. 

Again, such a small trip, and small salad yet a big task of cheese. It was after we were had finally found the salad in our pile of cheese that I asked why this task had never been fulfilled. - it was a simple reply of "I was worried what the waitress and people around me would think."

It was at this point in the lunch conversation that i realized I too was held captive of fear - I HAD NO CLUE ABOUT! I really started to think about the reasons why i do things and realized most of them were out of FEAR, and not fear of GOD but rather fear of MEN, or fear of Failure, or the fear of the unknown. 

Shortly after coming to this realization the lord reminded me of 2nd Tim 1:7 

" The lord did not give me the spirit of FEAR but of Power, and love and of a sound mind." 

It's amazing the scripture he recalls to one's mind, after revealing himself to you  - even if it's through a salad. 

 SO  - I suppose I must ask ------> What have you not accomplished  because of the fear that you might not even be aware of............ Really, it might just be as simple as "letting the cheese pile high on a salad" or maybe it's moving, quitting, starting, running, jumping, Trusting, or being faithful to the step the lord asked you to take ---- I don't know and It's not my job to answer the questions of fear that reside in your heart -  it's yours!  However, if given the chance, provide others an opportunity to take down their guard and live life to the fullest! 

Take a CHANCE to ----------- LIVE, LAUGH, and LOVE! 

It's worth it - I promise!