Sometimes we experience grief to an unnecessary degree by getting too attached to the blessing, and forgetting the Source of the blessing.
  Seven-year-old Cody and his brother, five-year-old Jack recently experienced this lesson when they began to take as their right, what was actually a bonus. Their friend is my neighbor, so they generally had a few minutes--20 minutes to a half-hour--to play together after school before their mother or dad would pick them up. A few times, the parent was there when the bus arrived, or shortly after, and they rebelled. They wanted to stay and play; they tried to take something as their own from the hand of the giver. Instead of considering each day of play as a gift from a loving parent and being grateful to the parent, they ( in their own minds), were the "owners" of the extra play time, and the parent was cruel for wrenching it away from them.
   Help me, Father, to remember that I am the owner of nothing but my own will and attitude, and that every good thing in "my" life is a gift from You!