I have not been able to write for several weeks because I went on a two week vacation to Paris, France. During this trip I had time to reflect in my life and on all the gifts that God has given me. Even though I had a great time and Paris is full of beautiful historical buildings, museums, parks, and amazing art, I still think America is the best place in the world to live in. My trip was over the 4th of July so I missed being here to celebrate the birth of our beautiful country. In short, I missed America!

It is still July, which I consider the patriotic month of the year, so take some time today to reflect on the wonderful gift that God has given you by being an American.

The other thought that I reflected on a lot is that it really doesn’t matter where you are in the world. What matters is who you are with in the world. I have a good friend of mine who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and when you see life from that perspective, everything changes immediately for you. You start focusing on the things that are truly important in your life—the people you love and your personal relationship with God.

If only we would live with the constant awareness of what’s important, how much more we could accomplish during our time here, how much less we would fight with those we love, how many people we would not hurt along the way, and how much deeper our relationship with God would be. Today, I encourage you to reflect on your life and make changes where you see necessary to focus on what’s truly important and show your love to others.