THIS Day

I get up early every day, 5am early, and put on my running shoes and head out the door. I love this time. I love being up and out and moving before my family is up, before most of San Clemente is up, before the sun is up. As I run and listen to my Ipod, filled with some awesome Christian music, I pray for my day, for my family's day, for all things on my heart, whether they be praises, requests or pleads. I start every morning prayer with this verse from Psalm 118:24..."This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."
I love starting my day with this frame of mind. The word "THIS" means so much to me and really puts my priorities in order. THIS is the day, just today, just THIS day that the Lord has made for me. Life is busy and hectic and chaotic and there are so many things to do and worry about and stress over. But If I just remember that I am so grateful to just have today, just this one day to be alive and share myself with my husband and my kids and my family and friends, then life seems a little more manageable. Then I can try to just focus on what I want to do with just this one day, who I want to be, how I want to speak and act and spend my time. I start to see more clearly how purposeful I can be in this one day and decide more deliberately how I will treat others and give of myself. I begin to feel overwhelming thanks and gratitude to the God who has allowed me to be here today. I begin to feel fortunate and lucky and blessed. I begin to be appreciative of the people in my life and the gifts and talents that I possess that I can share. I find myself rejoicing, celebrating my life and thanking God for the awesome opportunity to serve Him, to be his partner in making a difference in the lives of my kids, my neighbors, the world.
What if I only had THIS day? What if I just have this one? How do I know as I pray in the morning that it wont be the last time I start a day this way? And if it is the last day that the Lord will have me here, then what will I do with it? How will I use it? What difference will I make? What message will I send to my kids? What example will I set for them? What lasting impression will I make on the people around me? What impact will I leave on this world? Will it be a better place because I was here? Will people know by the way I spend this one day that I love the Lord, that I want nothing more than to serve Him? Will my friends and neighbors really, really, really know me? Will they know that I am filled with a deep desire to follow Christ and help him to redeem this world? Will they be surprised to hear others talk about my faith after I am gone? Or will they already have known about the change in me?
I pray that I am a genuine, authentic, transparent woman and disciple of Christ and that on THIS day I make Him proud.