An Unrepeatable Gift
Before every basketball practice, we try to read the Jesus Calling for the day. I appreciate those 2 paragraphs of spiritual inspiration and affirmation, that God has us in the palm of His hand.
Today, while reading it with the players, the line “Thank Me for this day of life, recognizing that it is a precious, unrepeatable gift” made me always refrain from reading the next sentence.
This DAY OF LIFE. Often I see each day as just another day. A day to do my daily routine. To get up, go to work, do what I do. But here it is called a DAY OF LIFE.
Do I fill it with “life”? Do I live in such a way where others see the life of Christ in me? Wowza. That is a challenge for me because I can be so quick to speak and slow to listen, saying things I maybe shouldn’t. Reacting to a situation in a distrustful and impatient manner.
Then this bold sentence goes on to say that this day of life is an “unrepeatable gift.”
I think about the unrepeatable gifts in my life – my open heart surgery, our wedding day, the day we were offered the chance to have our own children. The day we lost our children. Those days are filled with so much joy, yet some filled with so much sorrow – yet ALL, unrepeatable.
How can I make each DAY unrepeatable? Doesn’t it sometimes feel that life is just on repeat – going through the same mundane routines? What is going to set apart tomorrow from today? What do you have to choose to do different, in order to make tomorrow an unrepeatable gift?
Again, I look at unrepeatable gifts – days that are unrepeatable – days that I learned to bear the burden of grief. Learning to rejoice so deeply that tears flow. Learning to love with grace. Learning to listen when I would truthfully rather speak. These are lessons that cannot be repeated, but gifts that keep on giving in the sense that they left a lasting impression on my life that I take with me daily.
Seeing each day as a gift of LIFE because God has given us LIFE, and seeing each day as unrepeatable, only spurs me on to live each day to the fullest!
