This Moment

This time of year is usually one in which people look forward toward the days ahead and often formulate plans for what they want to change in the future.  Sometimes too, it is a time for reflection over what has transpired in past year.

Thinking of this, my husband and I were discussing the Hans Christian Andersen story, "The Fir Tree."  Glen had little remembrance of the story, and I was quite fuzzy on the details, so I ended up reading the story to him.  It is so sad, when I finished I wished I hadn't done so.

You may not be familiar, either, with this morose little tale of a fir tree who was never satisfied with his surroundings, but was always looking to sometime off in the future in which he hoped to find happiness.  His looking to the future caused him not to see the beauty of the forest, the lovely songs of the birds, or the soft sunshine on his branches.

Let us learn a lesson from the sad little fir tree.  We should each choose to look at ever moment that is given to us as a gift from our Lord and seek to see the blessings He has bestowed upon us in each minute.  At any time, there is something for which we can give thanks, if only for the breath He has so graciously given us.

Acts 17:25

"Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things."