A year ago. A year ago, August 31. It was actually a Monday. If I recall correctly. And I think I do. I have a fairly vivid memory of this week. And of the events that moved us forward from it. I had been in a funk. I had been feeling frustrated after a move. I had been feeling emotional and somewhat unbalanced. My safe place… my home… was in complete disarray and I, well, to be perfectly frank, I was feeling sorry for myself.
First world problems, right? Moving. Not having roots. Not having our stuff in a place that we could feel in control. Three boys running around the house, getting used to the erratic transition of a new home… none of their “stuff”, none of their “normal”. And me. Tired. So so tired and overrun at the end of each day. Not understanding why oh why I was so tired. And things felt so heavy in a way.
But it doesn’t matter what your heavy is. It doesn’t matter how someone else would feel or deal in those circumstances. You are the one living your existence. And so if it feels hard to you, it is hard. It is not just “first world problems” that others might scoff at you for even complaining about. At some point, the heaviness resting on you might feel like too much.
And I’d sat in church the day before where my pastor spoke to me. I am certain. God had given him a message to hand down to me. “Look for the goodness.”
Wow.
I don’t know if I can ever capture what that all means to me. That finding my lump started right after I focused on looking for goodness. The goodness of the day. The goodness of this world. The goodness of this life.
The big stuff. The little stuff. The even tiniest bits… of goodness.
They. Are. Everywhere. Should you choose to accept them.
And so today. Today I wrote another list. A list of goodness. And just like last year… my number 1 item: I am thankful for my health. Thank God almighty that I have my health. And of course… for GOODNESS. Because it keeps. on. coming.
Are you there — in a place where the darkness seems heavier than the light? Where the hard seems more overwhelming than the good? Where you just can’t get over the hump?
We all get there. We do. Don’t let social media or brush encounters fool you. We all have our days. Our times. Our stages. Where we just can’t get over our hump.
But then. We find our lump. We label it. We figure out what it is. And why it’s trouble. And how to attack it. And within it all, we find its goodness. Its gift. Its purpose.
Today… TODAY… it’s a day that is up to you. Will it be a gift or a burden? And it might feel HARD. HEAVY. IMPOSSIBLE. OR DAUNTING.
But it also might feel good. Really good. Just to get to be allowed to live it. And that, well, that… that’s the good stuff.
Make your list. Check it twice. And if your list is only one thing… that’s one more good thing that zero. And that, that THAT… IS HOPE for a better day to come.
Tiny bits of goodness. They are floating everywhere. Let today be the day you open your eyes and see one of them. It could absolutely be the change you are praying to feel. The life that you are dreaming to live.
