Don't Let Me Take It for Granted

Lord, don't let me take this wonderful gift of life for granted.

What a miracle it is just to wake up in the morning - to be alive another day

Just to be able to get breakfast: to crack eggs into a tizzling skillet, to pour milk for the noisy horde. Just to feel myself functioning - muscles and mind and voice. (A voice the rest of the family probably wishes didn't work quite so well!)

Remind me to stop sometimes in the midst of it - the often chaotic, maddening midst of it - and touch it, taste it, ove it, feel very grateful for it. Let my heart pause to utter a little secret prayer of thanks.

Lord, don't let me postpone my appreciation until all this may be threatened. Don't let me wait for a time when I night be ill - hurt, afflicted, in traction - and out of circulation before I realize it could be taken away.

Don't let me wait until it's over - as I know one day it will be - and I look back, perhaps alone. Don't let me wait until I'm desperate, Lord. Don't let me wait until
I'm dying.

Help me to be fully awake and aware of the wonders of life now, while I'm healthy and agile and able. Let me appreciate it while my family is all about me, in spite of the and the worries they cause.

Let me keep my rejoicing current. As fresh as the eggs, as new as the morning paper, as bright as my children's faces or the sunlight dancing at the door.

Thank you for each day of our life together. Don't let me take it for granted.