It is so easy to allow opportunities in life to pass us by, as we often react in
fear rather than choose our response to particular situations that we
find ourselves in.

Recently my daughter celebrated her 21st birthday, and I thought back to an
incident I had with her that was published many years ago in the book A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul. In sharing this story with you, I am reminded again to always look for opportunities that are given to us.

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I had offered to watch my 3-year-old daughter, Ramanda, so that my 
wife could go out with a friend. I was getting some work done while 
Ramanda appeared to be having a good time in the other room. No
 problem, I figured. But then it got a little too quiet and I yelled
 out, “What are you doing, Ramanda?” No response.

I repeated my question and heard her say, “Oh…nothing.” Nothing?

What does “nothing” mean?

I got up from my desk and ran out into the living room, whereupon I 
saw her take off down the hall. I chased her up the stairs and
 watched her as her little behind made a hard left into the bedroom. I
 was gaining on her! She took off for the bathroom. Bad move. I had 
her cornered.

I told her to turn around. She refused. I pulled out my
 big, mean, authoritative Daddy voice, “Young lady, I said turn
 around!”

Slowly, she turned toward me. In her hand was what was left of my
 wife’s new lipstick – and almost every inch of her face was covered
 bright red (except her lips of course)!

As she looked up at me with fearful eyes, lips trembling, I heard
 every voice that had been shouted to me as a child. “How could
 you…You should know better than that…How many times have you been told…What a bad thing to do…”

It was just a matter of my picking out which old message I was going to use on her so that she would know what a bad girl she had been.

But before I could let loose, I looked down at the sweatshirt my wife 
had put on her only an hour before. In big letters it said,
” I’M A PERFECT ANGEL! ” I looked back up into her tearful eyes and, instead of seeing a bad girl who didn’t listen, I saw a child of God…a perfect little angel full of worth, value and a wonderful spontaneity that I had come dangerously close to shaming out of her.

“Sweetheart, you look beautiful! Let’s take a picture so Mommy can
 see how special you look.” I took the picture and thanked God that I
 did not miss the opportunity to reaffirm what a perfect little angel
 He had given me.

Question: In what way do you relate to my story of how easy it can be to miss opportunities in our life? You can leave a comment by clicking the Comments box above.