Day by Day

Today, I cooked breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. I picked up stray items and made the bed. I washed and dried clothes.

I read books to grandchildren, inspected an armadillo hole, and helped the children chase millipedes. We shoveled, dug worms, and walked to the mailbox. Racing and laughter were involved. Later, I prepared lunch and, once again, cleaned the kitchen.

The day rolled on with simple everyday tasks and activities, and though I could list a hundred and one things that did not get done, my heart rejoiced in the normalcy of it all.

We each have our own definition of normal, and we spend a lot of time and energy trying to make that definition reality in our lives. We chafe at deviations that keep us from routine tasks and stress when days stray from our expectations. We see our perception of normal as our due, and sometimes we miss the blessings God has for us as we strive to align life to our personal requirements.

Today, though, I rejoiced in normal,

because I remember days that were not simple, days where normal included hospital bedsides and long hours of waiting. Days when sorrow scraped my soul, and I struggled to find gratitude and joy.

I rejoiced in normal,

because I have friends whose current normal involves chemo and doctor visits, uncertainty and grief, emotional exhaustion, and debilitating weariness. They are crying out to God and clinging to Him for strength for the next step.

God is in the middle of both kinds of normal. He does not desert His children in the difficulty of trial. He carries us and holds us close to His heart. He walks with us through both the light and dark of life.

I wonder, though, if I sometimes take the simple, quiet days like today for granted, if I see these everyday moments as my entitlement rather than as a priceless gift from my Father.

I believe that God gives these times of simple joy as rest stops on my journey, not to be taken for granted, but to be used to store up strength for the miles ahead. Time to minister to my fellow travelers. Time to rejoice in the grace and faithfulness of my Father.

May I not fritter these precious times away or chafe at their mundaneness but treasure them for the amazing gift they are. May my heart cry out to Him in these quiet times with just as much fervor as I call to Him in my times of trouble. May I walk with Him day by day, no matter the circumstances that surround, no matter where He is leading or what He is leading me through.

An old hymn by Lina Sandell puts it this way:

Day by day, and with each passing moment,Strength I find to meet my trials here;Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,Gives unto each day what He deems best,Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,With a special mercy for each hour;All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.The protection of His child and treasureIs a charge that on Himself He laid;“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,Offered me within Thy holy Word.Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

The Psalm of Life (which covers every kind of normal) – Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.² He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.³ He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runs over.⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Photo – Simple Beauty, Beth Mims