An Ordinary Tuesday: How to be Thankful for Life
For the last twenty years I’ve been part of a regular Tuesday morning men’s prayer group. The number has fluctuated – never more than six, never less than three – but the thing that has not fluctuated is the day and time. It’s been a lifeline for me – a constant in a world of change.
It’s been a safe place; a place where one can speak an unflattering truth without fear of judgment because the next week the other guy’s going to have his own dirty laundry to air. We’ve cheered each other on through raising children and achieving career goals, our successes having been all the sweeter because we’ve been able to share them together. We’ve been able to compare notes as husbands and trust me when I say that all of our wives have benefitted from it.
We’ve supported each other through major life transitions like children’s weddings, and the passing of parents. And we’ve stood by each, sometimes praying about a situation for years, often being able to celebrate when circumstances that seemed hopeless resolve in a way more beautiful than anything we could’ve imagined.
Sometimes we have big news. But when we don’t my friend Tony will often say, “Thank goodness for an ordinary Tuesday.”
I’ve come to adore that sentiment. You see, I grew up in Hollywood where everything one is trying to be a movie star. And then I moved to Nashville where everyone wants to be a country music star. The idea was that “Boy, won’t it be great when I (win an Oscar, have a hit single, etc.)” And whatever the goal was it was always out there somewhere in future. But the truth, of course, is that we all do this. Life will be better when we get that job, buy that car, live in a bigger house, etc. The problem is this kind of living guarantees to keep happiness out of reach. What we have now isn’t good enough.
My friend Rick says, “God hasn’t given us tomorrow. He has only given us today.” He’s right. And the trouble is that when we live for things that can only happen tomorrow it’s easy to overlook the gifts of today, the things that are right in front of us. A sunset. A flower. A loved one’s kiss. A great song. My friend Lisa told me that every morning when she opens her eyes she says, “A bonus!” She said it was her way of acknowledging that she wasn’t entitled to another day. It helped her greet the new day as a gift for which to be grateful.
So I thought I’d try it. Every morning when I wake up I say out loud, “And a bonus!”
Guess what? It works! I find it especially helpful when the day holds some task I’m not looking forward to. It immediately puts whatever onerous activity I’m dreading in a larger context. Maybe I’m not looking forward to doing my income tax but there’ll be other things in the day I will enjoy. Ordinary things like talking with my wife, taking a walk, playing the piano. And so on.
When you look at your day that way you realize that none of these actually are ordinary. They are all gifts from a loving God that we should say thank you for on a daily basis.
About fifteen years ago John Mandeville and I had the opportunity to write some children’s Bible songs. Naturally we had to boil some of the themes down to a child’s level. But today I was thinking of one of those songs. It’s called Thank you Father.
I happen to think it’s a good message for us adults too, just the way it is. (Swap out the word work for school if necessary)
Here are the lyrics:
Thank you father for this day
Thank you Lord that I can praise you
Thank you father, thank you father for this day
Thank you father for this life
Thank you Lord that I can love you
Thank you father, thank you father for this life
Thank you father for your church
Thank you Lord that I can worship
Thank you father, thank you father for your church
Thank you father for your word
Thank you Lord that I can hear you
Thank you father, thank you father for your word
Thank you father for your son
who means so much to me
Thank you father for the cross
where I was set free
Thank you father for my home
Thank you Lord for all my family
Thank you father, thank you father for my home
Thank you father for my school
Thank you Lord for my friendships
Thank you father, thank you father for my school
Thank you father for this day
Thank you Lord that I can praise you
Thank you father, thank you father for this day
Thank you father for this life
Thank you Lord that I can love you
Thank you father, thank you father for this life
*
Here’s to an ordinary Tuesday!
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Steve Siler – Music for the Soul
Originally posted 8/15/16