Glorious Day

I have a habit of marking off the days on my calendar that I've turned into a pleasant ritual of sorts. Instead of just crossing out the whole square with a pen - how doleful looking! - I put a colorful "x" in the upper right corner of the date. And they're color-coded too. Nothing random or original, just the delightful prism range, following the pattern of that unforgettable name, Roy G. Biv. I had a few extra markers in the set, pink and brown. Perhaps it was the girl in me that insisted in working pink in after violet and before red; lonely brown is destined to mark events and not the passing of days as long as his ink runs damp.

But one day I stared at my calendar, aghast at the action I was about to perform. A new perspective nearly blinded me as a portion of plank from somewhere on my face clattered to the floor.* My life was laid out as just so many X's on paper. I froze: eyes wide, mental wheels turning at a furious rate, pen raising a hypothetical eyebrow at my pause.

Is this what I want? I questioned. Do I really mean to live my life looking forward to the next x? Checking off days because they're done? Rejoicing in going to sleep? Suddenly it seemed as if I'd been wasting time, trying to hurry through each day just so that it'd be over. I capped my pen. Strange thoughts muddled together and only one thing was clear: I couldn't cross out another day just yet.

Several times throughout the next day I went up to the calendar ready to mark off that last day, which hadn't been concluded in the standard way. Each time the same thought stopped me. I couldn't just live like this, waiting with anticipation to end each day, with the purpose of getting to the next one and ending it also. I'd shake my head to clear my brain and walk away, determined to come armed with more strength and bolder ink the next time.

Throughout that day I realized something. It wasn't so much a Bible verse that stood out to me as it was a concept that I formulated. God has a plan for my life. He's got something more in mind for me than just marking off days until "to dust I shall return." Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' Declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.'" I should be seizing each day for its value in God's kingdom. Each day is one in which I can worship God in all I do and all I say. Each day is one in which I can seek opportunities to live for Him and be a living witness for Christ.

That settled things nicely. It was with joy and Holy gusto that I attacked my calendar that evening.



* Matthew 7:3 "Why do you...pay no attention the plank in your own eye?"