So, Miss Dog (aka Lucy) woke me up at 5 a.m. wanting to go out.  So I did my usual complaining about getting up so early and took her out.  Based on yesterday, when I ignored her and ended up with a mess to clean up, I thought I’d better.

Last night, I went to pick her up from daycamp (her Tuesday gig), payed for it and promptly tried to walk off without her.  In my defense, they hadn’t brought her out from the back yet, so I didn’t actually see her…The girls at Petsmart thought it was pretty funny.

Sometimes I go through life in a half-conscious state…I find that if I don’t focus on the moment and what’s happening, things can get out of control very quickly.  I went shopping at Kohl’s last night, bought some clothes for myself and some as gifts.  Picked out a pretty ring and got home to discover I apparently left it in the shopping bag at the store when I loaded my items onto the checkout counter.

There are a lot of things I do on automatic, and if I don’t remind myself to notice that I’ve done them, I spend time doing things like driving around the block, circling back to see if I really did close the garage door when I pulled out.  Last week, when I had the girls here, I managed to misplace my mailbox key which is the only one we have.  I spent at least a couple of hours searching for it, including emptying one trash bag one item at a time to make sure I hadn’t thrown it away.  As I fell asleep on Friday night, I asked the Lord to help me find it the next day (hadn’t ‘fessed up to hubby that it was missing yet).

I started searching again on Saturday morning, and, in a last ditch effort to find it, took my walking stick out to dig through the ivy that grows next to the mailboxes.  I just happened to look at my mailbox and noticed that it wasn’t locked, pulled it open and lo, there was mail and my mailbox key in the box.  Some kind soul–probably the mailman–had seen that I left it in the mailbox and rescued me.

Whenever something like that happens, I’m reminded of Jesus story of the woman who lost a valuable piece of jewelry and took her house apart looking for it.  I wonder if she lost it because she wasn’t paying attention?

How many times in our lives are we guilty of walking through our days without really noticing  them?

I know that’s not how God intends us to live.  The Psalmist says in Psalm 90, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Try to notice the homeless person pushing the shopping cart down the street…he might be crazy, or he might be a veteran who was unable to find a job after serving our country. Stop your car, roll down the window and give him some cash…sure he might run spend it on drugs or booze, but you are not responsible to God for that–you are responsible for noticing him.

Really look at the people around you and smile at them.

Say something nice to a stranger and make her day…

Let someone go ahead of you in the checkout line at the store…

Really notice the sunrise, the beautiful trees, the glory of God’s world that you walk around in everyday, oblivious to all the little details He has put there.

Live in each moment as though it were a gift, not a burden.  Be aware of what you are doing with your day.

Live your life on purpose