This Day...

It is a common occurence in my household to explain that the food is the same whether it's in a red bowl or a blue one. I often hear, "I don't like that" when something doesn't happen the way my kids want it. So many times I have found myself showing the same ingratitude. Just last night, I was thinking about how I respond more favorably if things are said or done a certain way. But I realized that requiring things to be said a particular way in order to make the message acceptable is really like my son rejecting his spaghetti because it's not in a red bowl. This is not justification to say whatever you want however you want, but rather it is an explanation of how often we take offense to something that is said or done simply because it isn't done in a manner that we deem "appropriate".

Then I read a post by Jennifer (aka the lactivist) that pierced my heart. It brought all that was stirring in my heart to a new perspective. She starts off her post saying, "Sometimes I think about the people that might have been. Not so much about someone not living up to their potential...but about just how close you came to not existing period." Her post, inspired by her grandfather's time at Iwo Jima, ended with a challenge to be thankful for our existence and to make our existence count.

It was not her challenge to make my life count that pierced me, it was the reminder that the lives of those I love count. My thoughts went back to when I was pregnant with my first child. Two people I knew had stillbirths, another friend had a baby with severe spina bifida, and I had a friend on bedrest (who later miscarried). And here I was with an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. Even breastfeeding was uncomplicated. I often wondered, why not me? Why not my child? I don't have the answer for those questions, but I will tell you that I have not taken any of my pregnancies for granted. I must confess, though, that in the nitty gritty detail of living, I have not prized my children and husband the way I should. I have been so caught up in the the whining, the tantrums, the backtalk, the night waking, a word not spoken in the way I would have preferred, that I have dismissed the laughter, the tenderness, the thoughtfulness, the kindness and unconditional love I have been given by these same people.

A song that sums it up for me is called "This Day". It was performed by Point of Grace in the mid-90's and I sang it when my mother remarried.

This Day

This day is fragile - soon it will end
And once it has vanished, it will not come again
So let us love with a love pure and strong
Before this day is gone

This day is fleeting when it slips away
Not all our money can buy back this day
So let us pray that we might be a friend
Before this day is spent

This day were given is golden
Let us show love
This day is ours for one moment
Let us sow love

This day is frail - it will pass by
So before its too late to recapture the time
Let us share love,
Let us share God
Before this day is gone
Before this day is gone

Words & music by Lowell Alexander

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:15-17