Today is the 9th July 2016. Mike & I have been married for 29 years and 11 months! Thirty years ago on this day, I was saying, “we get married in a month!” It is hard to believe that 30 years have passed. Three decades – 10957 days including leap years. That is amazing. What have I been doing on all those days that have slipped by and will never be revisited again. Some stand out like wonderful beacons of joy – the day I married; the days the children were born; flying overseas; happy family birthdays. Other days are memorable for the sadness they carried. The day I sat at my Mom’s bedside and watched her breathe her last breath. The day my brother died. The awful last few days of Granny’s life. And in between the peaks and the valleys are the thousands of days in between, that were unmemorable days that I tried to enjoy and embrace as the moments ticked by. I have tried to find joy in the little things, like the domestic picture white linen on the line painted for me this morning…
There are a lot of small joys on the journey. They may involve a cat, a flower, a child or simply the sun shining in a blue sky or long-awaited rain falling hard on a dry land. I think the trick is to look for the small joys. When I was on air, I used to know that one day I would not be. I used to try and embrace the honour of being on the radio – I knew it was an opportunity few had and that it would not last forever. And for that reason, every day when I entered the studio, I made sure I was happy. I learned to be happy. I well remember the feeling of walking into the studio, sitting down on the studio chair, adjusting the microphone and putting on my headphones. Here we go – microphone on – smile on my face – the day has begun. Ten years I did that – for all of my 40s I learned to be happy every day regardless of what was going on in my life. What a privilege that was. I will always be grateful for that happy lesson.
And now my days are more normal. I don’t have to get up at 3-35am. It’s more like 6-30 or 7am. But my Bible is always close by and I still begin the day by reading it. And that makes me happy. Every day, at the end of the reading, I close it slowly, carefully and as I put it back on my bedside table I do so with awe that the Word of God can be so powerful every single day.
In 30 days time, Mike and I will go away for a day or two. We will sit down, God willing, to dinner on 9th August 2016 and we will remember how far we have come. We will reflect on 10957 days of being together as man and wife. But more than that. We will reflect on 30 years of God’s faithfulness in carrying us through the good times and the hard times.
The other day my friend Jo quoted Chris Tomlin’s song “Good good Father” with the lyrics: “You’re a Good, Good Father -You are perfect in all of your ways”. Regardless of what we go through – God never changes. He is trustworthy and He is faithful. He is close to us. He loves us. He wants the best for us. When it doesn’t look like it’s going our way, He is there just the same and we can trust Him in all things – in the big things and in the little things.
Psalm 119:68
You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes.
The big huge memorable days are easy to remember and to celebrate. The trick is finding joy in the little things, that make the moments of the ordinary days strike a chord of happiness across a grateful heart.
That’s today.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂