Delicate cornflower blue and rose flowers contrast the white background of my bone china cup as she sits in all her splendor upon her saucer throne. As my gaze rests upon the golden-tipped scalloped rim my coffee grows cold.

When this cup was purchased at a garage sale years ago, I planned to start a collection of various patterns to use when hosting a neighborhood tea.

Only a few days ago, the lovely cup had stood all but forgotten in my kitchen cupboard. This special cup stood among other more ordinary cups. The others obtained a beauty of their own from wear and tear of daily use. Some proudly held a chip or two and some a stain, but the fine cup looked like new. She was sitting on the same shelf where she had been placed some time ago.

When my eyes by chance, it would seem, lit upon the cup patiently waiting to join into life I peeled away the $15 sticker. Next, I sudsed up the new, old cup thoroughly rinsing away a film of dust.

As the dust rinsed from my cup something interesting began to happen; dust of dreams I had left alone on a shelf seemed to slip from my eyes as well.

Now, why didn’t I finish that collection? Just think how all the neighborhood ladies missed out on my tea parties! What about that book I planned to have finished by now? Did fear of failure keep me from completing it? What if nobody wants to buy one?

Now, why did I give up on that friendship? Perhaps forgiving just one more time would have been a better answer. My shiny cup reminds me that it’s never too late to fulfill the dreams that God has placed in our hearts, no matter how large or small.

We all have important goals to accomplish in this life. Today is a gift. Each day is a gift, and whatever today brings I have the unique opportunity to decide what to do with it. The more time I spend on planet earth the more I realize that those who simply finish what they start obtain their goals by sheer tenacity.

Today, Lord, help me to rekindle my forgotten dreams and keep reaching upward. I know you have a great plan for me and for my life, as you do for us all.

Give me the strength and tenacity I need to step into this new day of life with excitement and hope. Lead me, Lord, on the path that You planned for me.

Help me to place one foot in front of the other heading in Your direction. I know this path will lead me to fulfill the dreams and goals that have been placed there.

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” — American poet, Langston Hughes.

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.