Unwrapping the gift of today!

It's December 31st (no way!), and I've enjoyed peppermint hot cocoa in my favorite Christmas mug for probably the last time in 2019. It feels like everyone is saying December flew by even faster this year and I for one really wish it would have been longer! The beloved Advent traditions, extra family time, the Christmas music, the lights, the food, the reading together beside the Christmas tree every night, the simple acts of kindness, and the little ones shaking gifts under the tree, excited for Christmas Day to arrive.

Cora woke up this morning and said, "Mommy, I go open presents downstairs." Bless her heart. I carried her snuggly toddler cuteness downstairs and sure enough, no more gifts under the tree. The gifts were unwrapped one week ago. I started pulling out her toys from the bin in our living room, reminding her of all the gifts she opened. She loved seeing them again, but it wasn't the same as Christmas morning when she unwrapped them for the first time.

What if I lived every day like I was unwrapping a gift for the first time? Embracing every day in this new year (with all it's twists, turns, trials, and joys) as an unwrapped gift from my Heavenly Father. One day of life truly is a gift. What if every morning as the warm sunshine rose I was excited to unwrap God's Word and spend time listening to His voice. What if I was truly grateful every day to unwrap kisses from my Hero and thank him for his service and sacrifice as he walks out our front door to work. Thankful to unwrap a warm cup of coffee and the best morning cuddles from my cuties. Normal moments that I so often take for granted. Thankful to unwrap all the mundane tasks, jobs, chores, to-do-lists, and even the mountains of laundry, because I couldn't imagine a moment of my life without the people in my home who wear all those clothes and use all those towels... This year one of my prayers is that I would learn more and more to thankfully unwrap the gifts the Lord gives me each day! How about you?

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! ~ 2 Corinthians 9:15

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. ~ Ephesians 2:8