hope – heartsoverflow.com

It is a Saturday, and a rare one when there are no appointments on the calendar. This allowed us to leave the alarms unset for the morning. Yet, I woke before the dawn. My heart is heavy, causing sleep to elude me. I am hurting for someone close to me, not sure how to help. It is difficult to wake up with an unsettled mind. How do you cope on such days?

Life’s hardships do not stop the clock. There is still an entire day to get through. I proceed with the necessary tasks: change over the laundry from the night before, feed the children, get dressed. Finally, I am ready to feed myself. Reaching for a plate, I pull out the closest at hand. It is a Holly Hobbie plate stamped with the words, “Start each day in a happy way.”

At first the words seem to mock. How can you start each day in a happy way, especially days that begin with lack of sleep and an abundance of concerns?

A possible answer can be found in the Psalms.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²    Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his^[a;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100

I realize now that it is possible to start the day, each day, with a level of happiness. It is possible when, even just momentarily, we lift our eyes to the heavens to the one who knows and cares. Isaiah 51:12 states: “I, even I, am he who comforts you.” For that alone, he is worthy of praise.

So, now my perspective has shifted and I am able to conceive of one way to start each day with happy praise. For God is good, always.

May is often a hectic month with graduations, end of school events, Memorial Day weekend, and volatile, stormy weather. With a child who has a late May birthday, the culmination of these events nearly always interferes with party plans. Traditionally, intricate plotting and rescheduling is required (and one year, a full out cancellation after 3 reschedules).

This year, as I sent out rescheduled plans due to a severe thunderstorm forecast, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much the old adage “April showers bring May flowers” rarely seems to be true in our lives. The last several years, May has been full of tornadoes and life transitions. We have moved in May twice in the last 2 years. “May flowers, my foot,” I thought to myself as I reflected on how weather was once again interfering in birthday celebration plans.

Then, I remembered the child that the celebration is for. I remembered that he was due mid-June. But, 11 years ago, I woke up at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning, Memorial Day weekend, to discover my water had broken. The baby was coming three weeks early! I hadn’t even finished packing my hospital bag. Waddling to the car, I listed items for my husband to grab. “And, the baby name book” I instructed over my shoulder. “You haven’t picked out a name?” our sitter exclaimed, incredulously. “I thought we had more time!” I wailed as I stepped outside.

Having chosen not to find out the sex of the baby before delivery, we discussed options en route and settled on a girl’s name as we parked in the hospital lot. Around noon, a lady from church peeked in our hospital room to check on our progress. “Do you still have that baby name book?” I asked.

“Do you still need it?” she answered with surprise. Unable to speak, I nodded vigorously. Realizing the moment was imminent, she handed the Bible name book to my husband and stepped out of the room. As the doctor coached my final pushes, my husband frantically flipped through the pages, throwing out suggestions that I kept declining with vigorous shakes of my head. “Are you sure you don’t like this name?” he asked, revisiting a name we had previously dismissed merely because a son had a close friend with that moniker. “What does it mean?” I panted. “Gift of God,” he replied. I nodded in affirmation. We decided on a middle name (from a grandfather who died before my husband was born) and one final push later the doctor announced, “It’s A Boy!!”

In hindsight, I have realized that God was indeed giving us a gift. For three autumns in a row, we experienced the joy of a new pregnancy. Yet, the first two of those pregnancies both ended in miscarriage. So, the arrival of this May baby was like a field of flowers after a few years of “April showers”. Which means that whatever inconveniences and frustrations we have in trying to celebrate this gift of God in our lives (from life upheavals to bad weather to scheduling conflicts) he is worth the effort in the end. And, he is a reminder that God really does send flowers after rain.

Posts Tagged with hope

Start each day happy?

April Showers Bring May Flowers