This Is the Day!

“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

Hello friend,

Life has taken a drastic change of course for me the last couple weeks or so. I haven’t found an opportunity to write because I’m scattered, smothered and covered; if you’re familiar with Waffle House, you’ll get it. If not, I’m sorry.

As I type this out, I’m sitting in my car outside my grand girl’s school, waiting in line to pick her up this afternoon, while enjoying the stillness, sunshine and cool-er breeze.

I got “the call” I’d been afraid of missing about 1:30a.m., on Friday, September nineteenth. I jumped out of bed and threw some clothes and flip flops on, woke my hubby and informed him of what was going on, and quickly drove the twenty minutes to stay with my grand girls while Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital to bring baby brother into the world.

Since then, I have kept my grand girls for three days or so, been taxiing my oldest to and from school, dealing with a bit of grief, trying to keep up with all my normal to-do’s, cleaning and overseeing an anniversary dinner at church last weekend, and attempting to take care of myself since I’m dealing with a second round of sickness in as many months. Goodness! It’s been a rush!!!

Baby Eli, or Elijah Grey Hardesty to be exact, has since made it to his second week of life and I’m in love again. He was delivered cesarean, and I thank God for His protection since the umbilical cord was wrapped around his tiny neck. Mommy is doing good. The big sisters are absolutely thrilled and being such good helpers.

As I sit here, listening to the wind blow and children playing outside on the school's playground, I’m reminded just how complex we adults tend to make life out to be. I think when we become older, we long to go back to the “simpler” days when things weren’t so heavy, when we enjoyed our days more, when there was less to worry about, and we had life by its proverbial tail.

I don’t know about you, but all the distractions and clutter seem meaningless. I find myself just longing to feel connected, present and content with what God brings into each of my days. Baby Eli sleeps, eats and enjoys being rocked and cuddled. The girls enjoy pretending together, eating all the snacks, giggling, and taking selfies. I want to find joy in the simple things — which I’m usually reminded of this fact during this time of year.

This week, outside of the things I must do, I’ve found myself allowing “me” to rest, to enjoy the moments I’ve held a new bundle of life in my arms, I’ve done my best to savor the moments I’ve had with my grand girls, I’ve cooked specific meals my husband has mentioned he’d enjoy, and I’ve let myself off the hook to strive so hard on the things which don’t matter as much. They’ll be there when I get to them anyway!

Above all, I’m thankful to be God’s child. He hides me safely in His arms, nurtures me with peace and rest, provides all my needs and works the hard stuff out for my good. There’s nothing quite like resting in knowing that He’s big enough to handle it all, that He has my best interest at heart, and to know He’s always with me is priceless.

When I stop to look at the world, with all its problems and issues, I’m comforted to know I can come to God as His child. I don’t need to know the answers, or need to “fix” what’s not mine to do so, and I don’t need to strive so hard. I just need to be me and live like He’s my all - because He is.

Friend, can I encourage you today? Take a look at your life and the simple, little things which allow us to experience the joy God has for us to savor in our today’s. Sure, the distractions and hard stuff will try to force their way into the foreground, but God wants us to enjoy the gift of life and the blessings He has in store for us each day. I wonder how He feels about us missing them because we’re adulting? Just something to think about.

It’s time to be alert and move forward in this pick-up line so I must close for now. I was just thinking about the goodness of God and the things He attempts to bless us with — and all the distractions which try to keep me, and you, from them. Let’s join together and be cognizant of how we spend our days and do more of the important things, everything else will be there when we get to it.

Enjoy this day the Lord has made!

Blessings ~

This post was supposed to be posted in October 25 and I thought I had lost it! Turns out it was here all along, thank goodness. Nothing more disheartening than to write an entire post and it come up "missing."