Monday

Old Time’s A-Flyin’

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I heard something interesting from a movie I was watching earlier today. One of the characters said that time is basically relative. Riding 8 seconds on a bull can seem like an eternity, but so can that time between 8 am and 3 pm on a school day. I get that.

I also remember when the time between the beginning of fall and Christmas felt like forever. I was not patient as a child, so I was ready for December 25 to hurry up and get here. Now, I wish I had that time back. I wish time moved as slowly as it seemed to move back then.

Now, I blink and it’s almost Halloween. I blink again, and there will be turkey and gravy with all the fixings on the dining room table for Thanksgiving. Then it will be Christmas. I will hardly have time to process one before the other is upon us.

I suppose that is the blessing and the curse of growing older. Now, I hardly have to wait for anything anymore, but I also feel like life has increased from a marathon to a sprint finish. It’s all I can do these days to remember what month it is, much less the day.

But I’m thankful for each day. I’m thankful to God for waking me up this morning and giving me another 24 hours. I’m trying not to take life for granted when I realize that so many people my age and younger won’t get to see tomorrow. So many people I knew growing up won’t get the privilege of growing old.

I suppose I need to take a few deep breaths and savor this one and only life that I have. The Bible speaks about redeeming the time, using it wisely instead of wasting it by wanting to hurry on to the next big event, next holiday, or even the next weekend. I can live in the moment just as much on a Monday as on a Saturday.

One day, I will step into eternity. Looking back, I’m sure the entirety of this life will seem so very short in comparison. One movie I saw had this quote: “The whole human life is just a heartbeat in heaven.”

I think that’s true. Our lives this side of heaven are like the blink of an eye. But what we do in that blink determines our eternity. More accurately, the choices we make affect where we will spend eternity. Like the decision to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. That’s the one I’ve never regretted and the one I stake my hopes on as my life gets closer and closer to the ending. I’m definitely over the halfway point.

Hopefully, I can live in such a way that my legacy won’t be anything I leave behind but those who will go with me into heaven because I was a good and faithful servant and was ready to give an answer for the hope I have when people asked.

Happy Monday

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“Success is to wake up each morning and consciously decide that today will be the best day of your life” (Ken Poirot).

I still think Monday is a rude way to start the week. It feels like being sucker punched in the face every time. After the calm that is Sunday, Monday comes in and seriously disturbs my calm.

Still, I’m thankful for Mondays.

Mondays remind me that I’m still here and that I still have a purpose.

Mondays make me thankful for Fridays and the weekend.

Mondays are another day to discover that God is still good and that I am still blessed.

Mondays, as insanely crazy as they may feel sometimes, are still only 24 hours long– the same as every other day– and all Mondays eventually come to an end. I promise.

Currently, Mondays are good because Monday is when I get my overdose of nature when I go hiking through Radnor Lake State Park. I still say getting outdoors and exercising is one of the best and most underutilized antidepressants.

As my old boss used to say, any day without a toe tag is a good day. Even Mondays.

 

Radnor Lake and Patsy Cline

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I think I picked a perfect evening for a hike at Radnor Lake State Park. Apparently, the rain earlier in the day scared off most people, so there were precious few hikers who were able to witness a picture perfect day for the woods.

It came within a hairsbreadth of fall weather. A few degrees cooler and it would have been autumn. Still, it made for an enjoyable walk. I saw 13 deer, so they had the same idea about getting out in the cooler weather.

On the way home, I had Patsy Cline playing in the car. I’m fairly certain that she wrung every ounce of emotion out of every song she ever sang. She didn’t have to write her songs to bring authenticity to them; she lived the songs.

I’m convinced that she was a once in a lifetime kind of talent that left us way too soon. Still, she left us with a treasure trove of songs full of heartbreak and loss and love found. If you don’t believe me, listen to her version of Faded Love, by far the most gut-wrenching version of the song ever recorded.

It’s been a good Monday. That almost seems like an oxymoron, but I still believe that any day can be a good day if you only choose to look for the good in it and thank God for it.

So, thanks to Radnor Lake State Park and the musical legacy of Patsy Cline, I’d call this Monday a win.

Even Mondays Can be Good Again

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“… so if we’re being honest here, we’re tempted to look at everything we’re facing, throw up our arms up & say, ‘I don’t see how?’
And You open Your arms wide & say: ‘Come see Me.’

We sit down & say, ‘This all feels too heavy to carry.’
And You sit closer & say, ‘My shoulders can carry any weight you feel.’

We look around & say, ‘But how in the world will we get through what’s ahead?’
And You look gently at us & say,
‘Just take all your world & lay it on My heart —
*and I’ll work the best through everything.*’

And You hold us close enough so we feel it:
Sometimes we don’t have to know the way through…
We just have to lean on the One who says He’s The Way” (Ann Voskamp). #HonestPrayers #RealPeople

I posted this two years ago and it still rings as true now as it did then. When the week hasn’t even started and you already feel beat up and worn out and run down, this word is for you.

God’s got this. You don’t have to be strong enough, smart enough, sly enough, or strategic enough. You just have to be surrendered enough. You just have to trust the God who’s already been there and made a way through.

Nothing that happens to you this week will catch God off guard or take Him by surprise. Even if that unlikely worst case scenario happens, you’re still safe in the arms of the One who still works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Go in the grace and mercy of God and make Monday a good one.

 

Monday, Monday

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It’s another Monday.

You could look at it with dread as an awful end to the weekend and a terrible way to start the week, or you could choose to see it as just another day in the week.

Or you could view it as one more day you get to celebrate the absolute miracle of being alive.

It’s your choice. You always have a choice.

You can look for the negative or the positive in people and situations. You can dwell in bitterness about how others mistreated you and how you screwed up royally time after time, or you can choose to see these events as opportunities to learn and grow and become a better person.

Maybe you can even choose to forgive others and yourself.

You don’t naturally drift into joy and contentment. You choose it daily in a thousand different ways in a thousand different places.

Even Mondays can be good if you choose to see it that way.

That, and lots of coffee. Coffee always helps.

 

It’s Monday Eve Again

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My cat Lucy is purring, so I’m thinking she’s unaware that tomorrow is Monday. Either that or she’s in complete denial.

I’m leaning toward the latter.

Of course, her schedule for tomorrow is a little less complicated than mine. Her to-do list goes something like 1) eat, 2) take a nap, 3) poop 4) take a nap, 5) dash crazily around the house for 45 seconds, 6) take a nap, etc.

Monday’s not my favorite way to start off the week.

Then again, Monday means I’m alive and made it to another day.

I can choose to complain or I can choose to give thanks. Gratitude is a much better way to live than grumbling. You can see every day as a burden or as a miracle. It’s your  choice.

So to that end, I say that God is great, life is good, and I am still very much blessed.

The end.

Billion Year Perspective

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“A whole human life is just a heartbeat here in Heaven” (from What Dreams May Come).

I heard someone comment recently about having a billion year perspective and the more I think about it, the more I like it and the more it makes sense.

The billion year perspective chooses to look at everything that happens in life through the lens of eternity. Even a billion years is barely a dot on the timeline in view of eternity, much less the 80-90 years most of us get in this lifetime.

It’s much easier to get your priorities realigned when you realize that much of what you obsess and fret over currently won’t matter even the tiniest little bit in the grand scheme.

It makes the bad stretches easier. When you realize that while you may not like where you are in life, it won’t last forever, it changes how you handle it. You’re more inclined to be able to bear up under adversity than to buckle underneath it.

It makes it easier to pray for your enemies and for those who persecute you (even for those evil nasty Trumps or Clintons, depending on your political persuasion). You can forgive easier once you know that the pain is light and momentary compared to that eternal weight of glory that’s coming.

As the dreaded Monday approaches, it’s helpful to keep that billion year perspective in mind and realize that even the worst days still only last 24 hours and nothing you go through is unendurable if you keep eternity and God’s love in mind. If you bear in mind that God still works all things together for good, then you can make it though anything.

 

 

Another Post About Nothing

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Am I the only one who has no idea what day this is?

That’s what a holiday weekend will do to you. You have this nice extended weekend then reality comes in and sucker punches you in the face. Tuesday becomes Monday on steroids.

Still, it’s been a good week. As my boss from my old job said to me, “Any day without a toe tag is a good day.”

Last time I checked, no toe tag. Thus, it’s a good day.

I can tell that it’s slightly less hot and humid out there. Every now and then, I can feel a fall breeze blowing. I’ve even been able to drive home a few times at night with the windows rolled down (which I recommend you do whenever possible). It helps if you have good music playing loud during the drive.

Today, I choose joy. I choose to be happy. I choose to participate in my own life and not set the day on auto-pilot. There will never again be another day like today for as long as I live.

I choose to live it.

The end.

 

 

 

 

Who Holds the Day

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“Our circumstances are not defined by what the day holds but by Who holds the day” (Aaron Bryant, Campus Pastor of The Church at Avenue South).

You and I both know what the day holds. There are already not enough hours in the day to get it all done. Some of you are already hyperventilating at the mere thought of the overwhelming list of tasks that await you when you get to work on Monday.

I have a new mantra based on a sermon I heard this morning at The Church at Avenue South. Our circumstances aren’t defined by what the day holds but by Who holds the day.

God is more than enough to handle what your day brings. He is more than enough to calm your fears and carry you through your stressful day. He is more than enough to make up for your woeful inadequacy to face what’s coming.

The One who holds the day holds every single day of your life in His capable hands. He’s the one who knows when a sparrow lands. He’s the one who knows the number of hairs on your head. He’s the one who clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the lowliest of those sparrows. He will take care of you.

I’m still not a fan of Mondays. I’m thankful they don’t come more than once every seven days. I seriously don’t think I could handle more than one Monday a week.

I’m even more thankful that the Lord of the Sabbath is Lord of the Mondays, too. He’s just as able to save and deliver you on Monday as He is on Sunday (and on every other day of the week as well).

Once more. Your circumstances are not defined by what the day holds but by Who holds the day. You will be just fine.

 

Happy Birthday Adam (Also Known as Birthday Eve Eve)

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As some of you may know, my birthday is Sunday. Two days away. Let the festivities begin.

The place where I work let me go early in celebration. I ended up at McKay’s Used Books, Movies, Music, and More. I’m more sure than ever that it’s Nerd Nirvana. I’m sure heaven will look a lot like McKay’s.

I picked up my usual eclectic assortment of music. I got Johnny Horton, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Santana, Genesis, Ray Lynch, Jeff Buckley, and Brian Wilson. I think that covers it.

I admit that I don’t quite look forward to birthdays in the same way that I used to. Back in the day, birthdays meant milestones– turning 10, 18, 21, and so forth.

Now the only milestones I hit are the decades. Those aren’t quite as rewarding. Mostly, you just get older.

Still, I also admit that I am more grateful for each birthday than I was for the last. I know more and more that life in general (including birthdays) isn’t something to be taken for granted. No one is entitled to live to be 90 years old and to die in a comfortable bed surrounded by loved ones.

Too many of my family and friends won’t get to reach that ripe old age. Some who were younger than I am now are gone. Just about everyday, I read about someone else who died tragically way too young. That’s sobering.

So thank you, God, for year 44. Or if you like, the 9th anniversary of being 35. That sounds less painful.

I’m also all about celebrating for as long as I can, so I will probably still be going strong on Monday. I guess I should be thankful that I wasn’t born on February 29, or I’d be celebrating turning 11.

Oh, and I do accept all forms of currency for presents, including cash, credit cards, traveler’s checks, and coins. FYI.