It’s leap day, February 29th.  How many times have we hoped and wished for just one extra day?  Extra time to do the things we long to do.  Here it is.  Today is the day.  What are you going to do with it?

Here’s a kicker to this extra day, this time around leap day falls on a Monday, often known as the return to mundane grind of another week.

As we awaken to this day, we have a choice to make.  Are we going to let this be another look alike Monday?  Is it going pass without much occasion and drift quietly in the winds of time to the past?

OR, is it going to be a day we arise, rip the Carpe Diem seal right off the gift of this day and seize all that it has for us.  Seize the day, pick it, pluck it, make use of it, enjoy it as it is fruitful & ripe for harvest.

As I sit here this morning, I would really like to call in sick to all of my responsibilities and obligations scheduled for the day and say that I have a serious case of Carpe Diem.  But I don’t think being reckless and leaving my responsibilities untended to is really the optimal way to make the best of this day.

So what do we do?  How to we press on through the “normal” routine, but still make the most of this day?

That is what I have been asking myself this morning.  Actually, it’s been the focus of my prayers this morning as well.  I have concluded, for me at least, that it’s not about the WHAT that I do, it’s about the HOW that I do it in.

I have to work on my to-do list today.  I have to follow through on the commitments I have made.  I’ve got laundry that needs to be done, kids to get ready for the day, a job to do and items to prep for what lies ahead in the week.

I also have a mission in life to encourage with love, passion and enthusiasm.  

To be honest, I’ve been lacking in the love, passion and enthusiasm areas lately.  I’m a bit out of shape and rusty on my encouragement too.  But, today is a new day.  NEW.  It’s shiny, it’s unused.  It’s ripe and ready to be harvested.

That is what I am going to do today, to encourage with love, passion and enthusiasm.

Through the to do list, the work, the effort and even the toil, I’m going to to encourage with love, passion and enthusiasm.

For me, it’s going to be all about the words.  The words I think.  The words I pray.  The words I speak.  The words I hear.  I am going to focus on the gracious words.

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” Proverbs 16:24 (NIV).

What about you, my friend, what are you going to do with this extra day?  How are you going to go through what lies ahead?