It always happens. No matter how many times I go away on vacation and no matter how many times I think I’m prepared to accept once more the return to the reality of every day life, there’s always a bit of a letdown. Tomorrow, the real world resumes. And I’m just not ready for it.

I don’t necessarily want to stay in vacation mode forever. Even a great vacation at an ideal destination can get old after a while. There’s only so much you can see and do, plus I would end up gaining about 100 pounds from all the vacation eating.

But the idea of getting up at 5 am to trek 21 miles to a job isn’t my idea of a welcome back.

Still, I think it’s all about perception.

I know of someone who was bedridden from a stroke who would have given just about anything to get to go to work. He said that if he could have gone back to having a job again, he’d never complain about it ever again. Ouch.

Being an adult is sometimes doing the stuff you don’t want to so that you can enjoy the fun stuff later. It’s about appreciating stuff more once you’ve had the satisfaction of having worked for it and earned it.

Then there’s grace. That’s the stuff you get that you don’t deserve. I truly believe that me waking up this morning in good health and having a job that allows me to take vacations is ultimately grace. That’s the goodness of God that I can never earn or get but only receive and be thankful for it.

So yes, I’m grateful for my job. I’m grateful for my life. I’m grateful for mercies that are new every morning — even on Mondays.