This is the day the Lord hath made

I’ve been warned that anniversaries are difficult times following a loved one’s death., so I woke up promising myself that I will not feel sorry for myself today.  Instead I will celebrate this day in as many ways as I can by focusing on being grateful –  not just for what was, but for what is yet to come.  I began the day by stripping my bed.  One of life’s little pleasures of life, I find, is crisp clean sheets.  Following my morning coffee, I fed the birds, giving them a special treat.  Then I walked to a friend’s for a heartwarming visit and delightful conversation. Coming home, I was greeted by a neighbor’s three vibrant red crepe myrtles that were turning their smiling faces to the morning sun. 

This is the day the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Friends, I find, are like the quilts I make.  They come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns bringing me warmth and comfort,  Friends are a vital support system that makes my life rich and full. My spouse would not want me to commemorate our anniversary by wallowing in sadness and self pity.

It’s been said that guilt is the gift that keeps on giving, but I much prefer gratitude being the gift that keeps on giving.  I am all too aware that two voices continually vie for my attention.  I can choose to listen to the negative voice that attacks my body, leaving aching and depressed, or I can choose my grateful voice that fills me with hope, happiness, and strength.  Since his death, I am relearning daily that even in the midst of trouble, happy moments swim by me every day like shining fish waiting to be caught.  I am grateful that having practiced gratitude for years now,  gratitude has become a life giving habit. I will never stop missing this man who shared 63 years of my life, but even in death he is with me teaching me life enhancing life skills.

This is the day the Lord hath made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.

It’s like Joni Eareckson Rada once wrote following her terrible accident.  “When you are experiencing the challenges of life, perspective is everything,”  Rereading her words I find myself remembering him sitting at the kitchen table observing, “Perception is reality.  It’s not what happens that makes or breaks us,” he’d say, “but the spin we bring to it.”  Consequently, on this is the day we had hoped to share with each other, I refuse to be sad because he died, but glad we had almost 63 rich and full years together.

This is the day the Lord hath made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.