Good morning sun,
whose rays of glorious light greet me each and every morning.
Good morning sun,
whose rays refresh me anew, and remind me of God’s blessings.
Every day brings a blessing,
a reminder of the badge of gratitude I must wear as a survivor,
as one who marches every forward away from the battle for one’s life. (?)
And yet,
my left hand wanders to the reminder of the thing that keeps me alive.
The futile reminder of a complicated and all too simple decision,
and yet a null decision.
To become subject to a battery,
forever and all eternity.
It was not a decision I made,
based on internet searches,
YouTube videos, random Google queries and curiosity.
It was a decision made of last resort,
of nothing lefts, of “there are no more options left for you,”
of…”I simply don’t know what else to do.”
The simple gift is not the battery,
whose life expectancy is but three years,
and whose wires are but only six to eight.
It is easy to see the gift in the medicine,
the battery telling my heart to beat just so –
Not too fast,
Yet not too slow.
The simple gift lies in the daily things given-
the ability to take a deep breath,
the deep belly laughs,
the glimpses at a life not taken for granted,
and the opportunity to shape lives for the better.
See these simple gifts for what they are.
Glimpses.
Glimmers,
true miracles sent from the divine one who did indeed inspire amazing hands to create.
And now life moves,
breathes,
thanks to the one who causes me to see the sun rise and set each and every day.
It isn’t the battery nor is it the disease,
though they do lie very close to the front of my mind.
Both are simple gifts,
in and of themselves.
The gift is in the giving,
the giving of life,
the giving of another day,
and the giving of a story.
Not the giving of anger,
spite, frustration to another, or choosing to be someone I’m not.
God has gifted me with simple gifts.
Simple gifts that are beautiful,
and are even beyond simple, gifts that are more than I could ever ask for.
God has gifted me with perspective,
at a young age.
Younger than I should have,
and yet,
a sign of a simple gift that others have yet to receive.
Some spend their days evidently resentful on social media of their simple God-given gifts,
arguing and bitching,
begging and pleading for attention.
Others blind to the scent of the gift right under their nose
that is God’s grace,
reality ripe before them.
While reality sucks,
surely it does,
as it calls out our flaws, mortality, the reality that life is raw, ripe for the taking,
and can be taken away just as quickly as it can be given,
reality is beautiful, clear, and truly a simple gift to be treasured.
So thank you God,
thank you for the simple gift that is the morning sun,
the challenges brought about by the zap of a defibrillator,
the frantic beating of a sorrowful and sickened heart begging for help,
and a soul seeking the God who created it all.
Thank you God for bringing me to a place where I could see you in it –
In all of it,
the good and the bad,
the pretty and the ugly,
the perfect and the imperfect,
because You created it all,
and in it is the simple gift.
The simple gift is not the sorrow,
nor is it the joy on the other side.
The simple gift is not the sickness,
nor is the temporary solutions.
The simple gift is the walk with God,
the compassionate touch of a physician,
the prayers of a community,
and the tears shed with family after weeks of awkward silence.
The simple gift is months of laughter after a year of anger.
The simple gift is a walk up a hill that previously defeated.
The simple gift is simple empowerment.
Joy brought about by the simple things,
that were once truly impossible, complicated, painful,
that might as well have been climbing Mount Everest.
The simple gift is being able to say
Thank you God.
Now use me.
Make this about more than me.
Because I’ve had enough of this being about me.
A Road Less Traveled 
Why every worship service should rise to Thanksgiving.