Giving Thanks

   I woke up this morning with thanks on my mind, and it all relates to what we found out about our weather yesterday.

   We struggle with the things that go on with our plans. It is OK to make plans, but our problems stem from being disappointed when what we plan does not work.

   There is no way to tell what might have been our day yesterday. We did not travel, but we can see what happened in those areas that we had to travel through in order to get to our destination. We can see the pictures of the gridlock on the highways, and we can be thankful that we were not there in the middle of it.

   But I look at that traffic, and I feel the stress that those motorists must have been going through. Why am I out here? What is the use? How can I use any of this time productively? What about my family? What about any passengers that are traveling with me? Stress and wondering, along with possibly beating myself up over the whys of how I got here.

   Sure, we did not get to where we planned to be, but there is a noticeable lack of stress when you are sitting at home, warm and snug, watching and thinking what might have been.

   So I give thanks for a decision to stay home, a decision that I prayed much about, and one that I felt was the right one to make in our particular circumstance.

   And, even though the decisions of this new day are not as pressing, will I still take the same attitude of one step at a time, following the arrow of God's leadership, or just slide through the day with no thought of what God might want me to do with these hours that I have?

   The hours that will pass through today will not come again. My prayer is not only of thanks about yesterday, but one of looking for how to use the ones of today, for Him.

   Is it wasting time to work that partially completed puzzle that is sitting on the counter? It seems to be calling my name.

   If that is the arrow for right now, I also need to keep my senses open for another arrow if it appears. One bad thing about going where it points is camping there and not caring about the next one.

   Even being obedient to that first sign is not enough. It is a start, but, as long as we are alive, there will be more, and true obedience is following all of them, as they show up.

   One puzzle piece (or arrow) at a time......