#thisistheday | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘#thisistheday’

It’s a Vapor

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #itsavapor, #lifeisagift, #lifeisshort, #meaningless, #praiseinthestorm, #rejoice, #thisistheday on August 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

It’s a vapor, a mist.

We work, and strive, and plan, and acquire, and do.

Yet, it will end … in a breath.

Life is brief, valuable, unexpected and its conclusion is unforeseen.

Do we awaken in our mornings with thanks, joy, with the appreciation that we have another day?

Do we greet the rising (or risen) sun with awareness that this day, this very moment is a gift and opportunity?

This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

– Psalm 118:24

Maybe today is one that we know will be filled with tough stuff … pain, sadness, tough decisions and actions … and we are still to rejoice?

Yes …

The Matthew Henry commentary for this verse tells us,

The duty which the Lord has made, brings light with it, true light. The duty this privilege calls for, is here set forth; the sacrifices we are to offer to God in gratitude for redeeming love, are ourselves; not to be slain upon the altar, but living sacrifices, to be bound to the altar; spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, in which our hearts must be engaged.

This rejoicing is our sacrifice … and sacrifice it might very well be for some of us today. Somehow if today’s sun rises on a day are not looking forward to, then we understand even better the sacrifice it is to pray and praise … when our hearts are heavy, when our souls ache.

The thing is … we only know that we have this very day, this moment.

You do not even know what will happen tomorrow!
What is your life?
You are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes.

-John 4:14

Let us rejoice today.

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This Moment

Posted in Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #keepmeinthemoment, #notlookingforwardorback, #thisistheday on September 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

I love looking ahead, anticipating the next long weekend, school break. This forward thinking provides a goal, a desired ‘carrot’ at the end of the week or season. It also helps me to not take my job too seriously, to not allow it to come before the more important things in life … worship, family, friends.

This summer I have been stalked by a message, that I realized I’d been hearing without listening when I heard these lyrics in a song:

“Keep me in the moment
‘Cause I don’t wanna miss
what you have for me”

Something about the first line … keep me in the moment … it stirred something visceral within me, as though those words were intended specifically for me.

To keep, or stay in the moment is to not look forward, or back with longing, but to be completely in the now, the present. It is to fully attend, to be mind, body and soul in the present task, with those present.

It is in the attending, the being fully present that we see the purpose, the learning, the value of that time, that moment. We learn the contentment of leaning on God.

As I look to the fall, to the return to work in a high school, in this season of Covid, I know that I need to focus on the very moment I am in, giving my full energy and attention to this moment.

“This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24

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Today is the Day

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #thisistheday, #todayisallwehave, #todayistheday on September 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

There is just so much to look forward to in life! Counting days to desired events comes natural for me. I love counting down to the next ‘event’.

We count down everything from years to retirement, to weeks of a pregnancy, to days until Christmas, to hours until the weekend. Having something to look forward to is motivating, exciting.

Looking forward is not a bad or wrong thing, but our life is to be lived, not in the past or the future, but in the present.

This is the very day of the Lord that brings
gladness and joy, filling our hearts with glee.
(The Passion Translation) Psalm 118:24

Today, as we take our first breath awake, as our eyes open to this morning, as we smell the coffee brewing, as we taste it’s anticipated aroma, as we hear the noises of our family, pet or the floorboards beneath us …

this is the day.
the one that God himself made.
the one that we need to receive with joy, gladness, glee.
the one that is all that matters.

No looking back.

No looking forward.

Just this very day, a day to celebrate …

simply because,

He made it

and we get to breathe it in.

How will we breathe it out?

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