J.R.R. Tokien's book, the Lord of the Rings, is extremely quote-worthy in many places. However, there is a quote by Gandalf to Frodo which has always meant a great deal to me:

"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time we are given."

I must have hope for tomorrow and in the One who made tomorrow, but I have realized that I cannot have hope in tomorrow. I must live THIS day as if it is my last, each day. I do not always live this way; it's incredibly easy to fumble through, to be overwhelmed by some awful reality or simple irritation, to be frustrated by what I cannot change, or to simply be distracted by the details which make life complicated and wonderful. I won't be able to escape my to-do lists, the weight of responsibilities, the good, bad and ugly of each day, but I decide at the start of each day if this day matters (because it does) and how I will treat the day because it profoundly matters. Tonight, I will not be able to reach back and repeat today and there is a certain gravity in that. Every interaction matters.

Another consideration that has shaped my life is something I learned from one of my favorite human beings, Elizabeth Elliot. She was watching her daughter wrangle her many children and manage her busy household and Elizabeth noted, "I don't know how you do it all." Her daughter said:

"Just do the next thing."

Translated: "Just do the next right thing." Some days that's all I've got. At the end of the day, I'm not always proud of my day, but I'm always thankful I have been given another one to live. And on the many (most) days when I literally just do the next right thing I know that day is a gift to me and I don't want to lose it in the mist that seeps through the cracks of time.''

I've been given a beautiful playground (prayground) where I can grow, learn and blossom, but it's also where I fight my hardest battles, let go of the things I cannot change over and over again and where I feel the loneliest and most fulfilled. So, this morning, I am thankful for this day. Very thankful.