Snippets from my day:

— Mama and four sisters brought piping hot blueberry muffins and coffee over for breakfast — and totally surprised me!
— Three hours of work at the church was brightened by the company of the new girl.
— I walked with my sister and the new girl for over an hour — in the misty rain, through rolling green hills and rich brown fields.
— For a couple of hours, I sewed, uninterrupted.
— I started and finished and liked an entire book in one day.
— My baby apparently was learning how to do chorus-line kicks and somersaults while I read the book.
— And then I got a nice email from my far-away friend who makes me feel like the miles won’t ever get in the way of our “best-ness.”

Nice. All very nice. A “crowns you with lovingkindness” sort of day.

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night…” –psalm 92

For some real winning music, go here.

“When Taylor Hicks is crowned the ‘American Idol’ champion on Wednesday night, he’ll have a long list of people to thank. First and foremost among them should be the people responsible for writing Katharine McPhee’s original song.” (source)

Gotta love when you get dealt the worst cards of the deck.

Thinking about:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. –2 timothy 4

Paul knew the Lord found pleasure in him. He’d been faithful, by the grace of God, and he was confident of the Lord’s affirmation.

I want to be like that, so much more. I want to know that I know that there is a crown laid up me for that the Lord is eager to award to me.

I want to know that God is smiling.

It’s the only way to live.

[I’m sort of playing catch-up today.]

Something that she wrote struck and stuck. It made me think of the things of nature that I truly love and find life in:

the never-fail arrival of four seasons
the flying V’s in October and March
the roaring waves hitting the shore
the whisper of wind through leaves
the sun’s rising, day after day
the peace of dusk falling on a world in need of rest…

I love those things. The undulating patterns of life, all around us. They are beauty, they are peace, they are constancy, they are always.

And so when I read,

Waves lap…wind brushes by…trees rustle and dance and wave. All of Earth sings Your praises. In rhythmic, daily constancy.
Without end.
Quotidian praises to You.
Quotidian: occurring or returning daily. Over and over and over again.

Like the work I do: cooking meals, baking bread, hanging laundry, changing diapers, sweeping dirt. Quotidian work.

Like the endless waves lapping on the shore, quietly lilting its song of adoration, so we dance our quotidian dance of praise: dishes and dusting, laundry and… liturgy.

I was challenged.

When I’ve started my silent grumbling over oft-repeated chores, I remember the waves, and I stop. This is my praise. This is my contribution of beauty, peace, constancy, and always.

Be praised in my life, dearest Lord.

Last week, when we pulled in our driveway from a long weekend in Maine, I was already anticipating what I was sure awaited me: six lilac trees, all in bloom. Somehow I mustered enough self-control to make myself unpack the car and unpack the bags before heading outside with clippers. In no time, our little apartment was filled with lavender blooms, giving off their strong and unmistakable aroma of spring.

All winter, I had been waiting for those first fresh flowers to be welcomed back inside.

Two days later, though, the purple flowers were already drooping, despite the care I’d given them. By that night, I knew their time was over.

Already? Two days? That’s all I get?

And I thought immediately of Isaiah’s words:

“The grass withers, the flower fades…”

Just another reminder that this world is not to be clung to. Even the loveliest things fade away, and the only rest for our souls is the eternal hope of His glorious Kingdom.

So as I threw away all of those withered branches, I let my heart be reminded to look ahead to beauty that will never fade, joy that will never dim, and life that is eternal.