This post was written on Sunday evening, March 17. What started out as evening musings turned into a journal entry which turned into a blog post. :)
What constitutes a ‘good’ day? An outing or adventure? Something memorable, perhaps? My friend and her family worked hard at a fair today and then went clamming on the beach. A fun outing. Another friend broke his finger this afternoon. Definitely memorable.
No outings happened at my house today. Nothing particularly memorable occurred. And yet I’m sitting here on my bed tonight with my sisters sleeping around me, satisfied at the end of a good day.
Is a good day something that just happens? I believe the world would say something like “A day is good depending on what you make it for yourself.” But I don’t think it’s either of those options. Correct me if I’m wrong, but God is good. And ‘every good and perfect gift is from … the Father of Lights’.
Every good thing is a gift from God. Every. Single. One.
The sunshine in the morning. Safety as we drove to church. Fellowship with other believers. Laughter. Potatoes and sausages on our table for lunch. Health. The example and story of St. Patrick. The moon-path on my floor. These are all gifts from God. Loving-kindnesses, we call them.
So what do I believe makes a ‘good’ day? Open eyes. Choosing to see and recognize the Hand of the Lord in our everyday situations. The Bible says that God “commands His loving-kindnesses in the daytime.” Did you catch that? Commands. They will be there. In fact, they are there. When you see how He loves you how can you help but smile?
This morning some of us practiced the Hallelujah Chorus, becoming familiar with the music to sing it strong on Easter morning. I looked across the group gathered around the piano at church and saw a good gift. Sister, mother, brother, teacher, friends – how blessed I am to be surrounded by such people, all singing and praising the Lord with energy and excitement.
We had a special Irish meal to remember St Patrick, and there I see God providing as Husband and Father for our family.
Green shirts and shorts were the unspoken dress code for the afternoon. Yes, I know I said shorts, and yes, I also know its March 17th. But what a beautiful gift from God today in the warm sunshine and blue skies!
Time spent with siblings playing together outside is one of those easily recognizable reasons for a good day. Gifts like lawn hockey (yes my team won ;), swimsuits, sprinkler and trampoline (directions: put the swimsuits on the kids, kids on the trampoline and sprinkler under all); climbing ‘The Cedar’ for the first time this year (the highest on our property and all the way to the top some 100+ ft up) and then sitting and discussing the view; not dying on the way down; exchanging climbing secrets and favorite swing spots in the branches of our more friendly ‘Climbing Cedar Tree’; instructing this younger generation (aka: the second half of the siblings) the correct terminology for things: “No this is not the ‘bouncy trampoline branch’. This is the ‘boingy-boing branch’!”
We had a funeral for a dead bird found in the lawn. ‘How is that a good gift?’ you might very well ask. Well, it sparked a conversation about life in Heaven, and, when Jesus comes back, life on the New Earth. And if God knows when each sparrow falls to the ground, then He certainly knows where we buried it ('cause I don’t think our twigs – uh cross – will last as a marker very long) and perhaps that little bird will be part of the resurrection. Who knows?
God’s good gift of animals is another blessing from today. Watching the dogs play together with their personalities so clear that I could understand what they were saying to each other. Observing Alec migrate between two sunning cats on the deck, petting one, and then the other, and back again. Teaching our baby sister how to ride a goat. Letting my horse out to graze on our abundantly green lawn. All blessings to enjoy. All gifts given from our good Father.
Something else that makes this day good actually didn’t happen today, 2024. It happened today, 2001, when my Daddy surprised my Mama with three red roses and asked to court her. (Actually, he was so nervously excited he asked her to court him!) That was the official beginning of the amazing gift of their relationship. And the many, many ways that gift has been used to bless others and will continue to bless others can’t be known until we are living with the Gift Giver.
So today a good day? Yes. A perfect day? (Are you kidding?) Hadassah was a grouch in church, Alec got poked in the eye with a pencil (told ya Hadassah was grumpy), Tate got slashed with a hockey stick (I won’t say by whom but thankfully he has forgiven me), Corrie insisted on kicking away balls, sticks and shoes with her bad toe (yes she’s a good goalie), I had more-than-my-normal weak/dizzy spells, we’re fighting colds, Mama was extra tired from allergies, there were tears over sauerkraut and I think I’ve lost my voice.
But that’s the thing. God did not say “I command that you shall never have an inconvenience in the daytime”. He commanded His loving-kindness. When we look for it, we will always find it.
Does that mean we never will, or should, have a ‘bad’ day? I don’t think that’s a guarantee either. We’re fallible, and forgetful, and fearful. (I am, anyway.) We also live in a sinful world, full of heartbreak, sadness and consequences. We cannot and should not rely on ourselves to ‘look for the good and change our perspective’. When we’re having a bad day, or moment, or year, all we need to remember is to look to God, for He is the greatest good gift of all.
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