“There once was a woman who longed to have a flower garden.  Each year she would visit her neighbor, who had the most beautiful garden she had ever seen, and he would give her cuttings and seeds for her own garden.

But when she would return home, she would change her mind at the last minute saying, “But my neighbor’s garden is so much lovelier than anything I could hope to grow.  And he knows so much more about gardening…I could never hope to grow a garden half so lovely as that.  Why should I even try?

One day her neighbor stopped by her home and saw that she had not one flower growing anywhere around her house.

“I’ve provided you with so much,” he said, “and yet you have done nothing at all with what I have given you!”

And so it is with each of us.  The Lord gives us talents and expects us to develop them.  We cannot judge our worth by comparing ourselves to others, but must bloom and grow the best we can with what we have been given.

May each new day that dawns for you be an opportunity to use the gifts that God has given to you to be the best that you can be!”

This is an excerpt from a card I found in an old box that a friend had given to me back in 1988 (yes, I am dating myself!).  I couldn’t help but think about how many blessings I have in my life and how my life would be so very different if I did not acknowledge the beautiful gifts and people that have come into my life up until now.  So many times we have “angels” come into our lives and we pass them by; so many times we have prayers answered and just because they are not in the form we expected them to be in we ignore them and say “God is not listening to me!”; so many times we make assumptions about what others think and let those “supposed thoughts” drive our actions, leaving behind opportunities; so many times our song goes unsung because we were afraid it wasn’t “good enough.”  We leave our gifts unwrapped and get to the end of our life wondering what was REALLY inside that box we refer to as our “potential.”

Give yourself a gift today and let go of the old image of who you are and create a new one.  Allow yourself for once to be YOU…the REAL you!!!  Abandon the fears and take a step in the direction of the life you are meant to live.  Unwrap your gifts and show the world what you’ve got!!!

An angel in disguise,

Chris

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