While visiting a friend in the hospital, a nurse entered the room on her routine check. Completing her duties, she stopped, commented on the beautiful roses, then went around to the other side of the bed so that she could smell them. As she left the room, I said, “It’s so nice to see someone stop to smell the roses.” She laughed and went on down the hall.

When was the last time you stopped to smell the roses or for that matter, when did you last take time to admire the flowers of the field or a beautiful sunset or the singing of the birds? When did you stop long enough to meditate and thank God for this beautiful world in which He has placed you?

We have so much around us to appreciate, yet we take so little time to be grateful. Stop, take a deep breath, relax and find something around you to appreciate. An attitude of gratitude can do wonders for your spirit. The Psalmist said, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for Him? (Psalm 8:3-4)

Take into consideration all that God has made. It is a marvelous thing to realize that He cares for us. He made this world, called it good and He wants us to enjoy it. Take time today to smell the roses.

In His Love, Charles

Thank you, Lord!