Who wouldn't want an extra hour?

Mamma! Mamma! My sons urgent cries pierced my slumber like a pin to a bubble.

The call from my 19 month old wasn't actually any different from any other morning, only it was at 5am not 6am. (I so envy parents who have to wake their children in the morning!) Not being a morning person, my attitude was not particularly cheerful as I reluctantly left my soft, warm bed, padded in to the boys bedroom and lay down in little man's bed in a desperate bid to get them both back to sleep. I grumpily wondered whose stupid idea it was to put the clocks back in the first place, I mean, we are all repeatedly told how we should look to the future, don't revisit the past etc, so what benefit do we get from turning back time and gaining an hour?

A terminally ill mother who give anything to have an extra hour, God whispered to me.

A father holding his precious daughter in his arms would give anything to go back an hour to when breath filled her lungs.

The motorist who was distracted by a text message and didn't see the motorbike coming around the corner would give anything to go back an hour and switch that phone to silent.

Time is precious. It is fleeting and it is fragile. It is our most valuable commodity and yet we fritter it away on a daily basis. Today I have been awake since 5am, but that means that I have enjoyed an hour more of cwtches and cbeebies with my children. I am blessed beyond all measure and my prayer today is that I never forget that nor today for granted.

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog, its here a little while then it is gone." James 4:13

So if you have been up since the wee hours this morning, go and pour yourself a strong coffee, give thanks for your life and enjoy this day, this hour, this minute for we are not promised tomorrow.

R