When my sons were little, we lived way out in the country, so far that we were the boondocks. On the 30 minute drive to school, I always asked them, “What is today?” They had to answer, “Today is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be happy in it.”
Now, the truth is that many of those mornings, I was frazzled and impatient, and the boys were fighting with each other and certainly not cooperating with me. But somehow we got into the car with backpacks stuffed with books and (hopefully finished) homework and lunch bags and (hopefully signed) permission slips. I would pull out of our long driveway and head out on our gravel road toward town and school.
Too many times, I am sure I asked the question through gritted teeth in an angry tone of voice, causing my sons to respond with sarcasm and rolled eyes. This would be one of many reasons that, once my little boys grew up and moved out to lead their separate lives, I have often prayed for God to fill in the gaps from where my parenting flopped.
Still, I hope they got the message that I was trying to learn myself. Whatever the day brings, even when, actually especially when, the day starts out like the worst Monday morning ever, with nothing going right and everything going wrong, we need to acknowledge that God gave us THIS day to rejoice in. We don’t get another one, just today.
And in the words of my beloved friend Phyllis, have a day of your choosing.
Amen and amen.
