Daily Appreciation

"every day alike"

Romans 14:5

It's almost Thanksgiving.  

I love Thanksgiving.  I love that we have a day set aside to appreciate all that God has given us.  And I love that Thanksgiving is a quiet, family sort of holiday.  It has refused to be commercialized, which means, of course, that Christmas ads have already begun... but Thanksgiving is still standing strong.  

We gather with friends and family, enjoying the traditions and the food, maybe sitting around the dining room table for hours; maybe playing board games or touch football on the lawn.   It's a celebration in which "the more, the merrier" can be truly spoken.

Autumn is my favorite time of year, and Thanksgiving, to me, is the high point.  But a few years ago, I almost missed it.  

Well, not that I would have missed it, but it nearly passed me by unnoticed. 

It was 2010, and my life had gotten crazy-busy starting in July.  My sisters and I were planning a surprise party for my folks' 50th wedding anniversary, and as the daughter nearest to them, I took the lead in the party planning.   The party was in mid-August, so the nearer the date came, the busier I got.  Organizing the caterer, the florist, the cake, the rental equipment and a myriad of logistics and did I mention the party was at my parents' house?  Have you ever tried to plan a surprise, semi-formal gathering of 100 at the home of the surprisee?  The planning overtook most of my days for several weeks. 

Now, in addition to this, my sister was planning a wedding in early November.  My mother was making her wedding dress, for which I and my daughter were needed to help.  And I hosted a bridal shower for my sister in October.  So before the anniversary party had even taken place, I had to begin planning for the shower and the wedding.  The wedding was out of town, so there were travel plans to be arranged, and wedding outfits to be bought for myself and my kids.   The Apple of my Eye, who is a graphic designer, was doing the invitations for both the shower and the wedding, and I did all the addressing and mailing.  This, of course, was after we had created, addressed, and mailed all the invitations for the anniversary party. 

By mid-November, the wedding was over, and I was still trying to find my routine after the travel and busyness.  And then one day I turned the page on my page-a-day calendar and realized that November was nearly half over.  And I hadn't been paying a bit of attention.  I had been completely oblivious to one of my favorite times of the year. 

Ever since then, my page-a-day calendar has told me more than the current date.  Every day I look at the date, and pause to get a sense of where we are in year.  I think about what I was doing in my life a year ago on that date.  I am still very aware of appreciating each day for what it has to offer, and I am determined not to let my days fly by.  Each one is too important to take lightly.   

And every morning, when I turn the page on my calendar, I think of Psalm 118:24 ~ "This is the day the Lord has made".  And every day I rejoice and am glad in it.

~ "whatever you do in word or deed, 

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through Him" ~

Colossians 3:17 

~