This is the day that the Lord has made...

by Elizabeth Stewart

We are only beginning the month of August and yet the stores have already stocked their shelves with fall decorations.  The older I get the more I resist the constant push to wish away our today in our anticipation of tomorrow.  This week I celebrated my sixtieth birthday.  I know the reality of how swiftly life passes by.  I regret the times that I didn't savor my now because I was wishing for tomorrow.  I remember how isolating and lonely the days at home with an infant were, yet now I wish I could go back and savor those fleeting moments just a wee bit more.  Yet, as wrong as it is to waste my today wishing for tomorrow, isn't it equally wrong to waste my today longing for yesterday, longing to relive the good moments or to repair the bad ones?  I cannot change yesterday.  I cannot predict my tomorrows.  I have this day that the Lord has given me.  I have a choice to rejoice in it, to live it with regret that yesterday is over, or to live it restlessly longing for tomorrow. There's only one choice, however, that will result in peace ruling my mind and heart.  There's only one choice that will result in a grateful, thankful attitude.  I will embrace and and mindfully live this day that God has given me.  I will choose to be glad and rejoice in it. I will not waste my today with regret over my yesterday or with restless longing for my tomorrow.

WE HAVE THIS MOMENT TODAY-

by Bill and Gloria Gaither

Hold tight to the sound of the music of living,

Happy songs from the laughter of children at play;

Hold my hand as we run through the sweet fragrant meadows,

Making mem'ries of what was today.

Chorus: We have this moment to hold in our hands

and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,

But we have this moment today.

Tiny voice that I hear is my little girl calling,

For Daddy to hear just what she has to say;

And my little son running there by the hillside,

May never be quite like today.

Chorus: We have this moment to hold in our hands

and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,

But we have this moment today.

Tender words, gentle touch and a good cup of coffee,

And someone that loves me and wants me to stay;

Hold them near while they're here and don't wait for tomorrow,

To look back and wish for today.

Chorus: We have this moment to hold in our hands

and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,

But we have this moment today.

Take the blue of the sky and the green of the forest,

And the gold and the brown of the freshly mown hay;

Add the pale shades of spring and the circus of autumn,

And weave you a lovely today.

Chorus: We have this moment to hold in our hands

and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,

But we have this moment today.

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