[Ann]

This is something that I wrote a few years ago and posted previously but could not find, so I am posting it again. It's something I need to remind myself of and today I am grateful for all the gifts that I have been given.

THE GIFTS

The gifts wre always a surprise. Never on my "wish list" and totally unexpected. They always came at a time when I wasn't expecting anything and I rarely know what they meant until some later date when, in a moment of clarity, I would think "So THAT is what the gift meant!"

They were always preceded by a crisis in my life. Sometimes my best laid plans, well thought through and worked to death, crumbled all around me leaving only rubble and ruin. A gift would appear, it's meaning to be discovered at some later date. Sometimes my life was filled with sunshine and no clouds in sight, when chaos would rear its ugly head and wipe out any hope of bliss. Another gift would be presented. A mystery as always.

It took many years before I even acknowledged the gifts, merely parking them somewhere in my mind to be considered at a later date. Eventually I recognized the pattern - disaster then gift; pain then gift; world upsidedown followed by gift.

The gifts were not always the same, but they were always exactly what I needed.

Sometimes the gift was knowledge - learned through the experience that had ended badly - a special kind of knowledge that would lead me forward with new-found strength.

Sometimes the gift was a new path to follow - when my old path crumbled beneath my feet, I was led to a new, more magnificent path that led to peace and serenity.

Sometimes the gift was unexpected strength - allowing me to survive the unsurvivable and move on steady and sure.

Sometimes the gift was a person, put into my life for a reason. Sometimes for a brief time and sometimes for a lifetime, and the gift of this person's friendship would be significant to the quality of my life and a companion on the journey.

The greatest gifts were faith and trust, that God had a plan for my life and that it was a good plan no matter how many times I screwed it up and that God put me on this earth to do something and that if I took quiet moments to ponder his purpose for me, he would show me the way and give me courage for the journey.

I am grateful for each of these gifts, regardless of the price I paid for them. I have learned that life is a gift, a priceless gift, that cannot be returned or exchanged but must be received as a special blessing upon me. Thank you God!

Hugs and Thank you all here for being special gifts in my life.
Ann