The Good Life
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We have a “closing time” ritual at Casa Dunbar. At 5:00 PM or so, I will call my husband to let him know that I am heading home from work. The drive is about 30 minutes, and usually when I arrive at the house, my man is standing in the driveway to greet me. We do a little hug and kiss thing as I exit the car, and he carries my lunch box and bag in to the back of the house. Everything gets plopped down on the kitchen counter, and we assume our positions — he has his back to the center island, and I stand in front of the opposite counter. Facing each other, the end of the day hug fest begins.
I look forward to this every day.
Once the embracing has ended, we each plop down on our favorite stools on either side of the island to face each other and unpack the events of the day.
I will usually begin by asking, “So, did you have a good day?”
I want to know how my man is doing. Did the day treat him well? Is he happy?
How do you define a good day? Does the sun shine brightly? Do the birdies sing? Does everything go your way?
Tonight at church, God got my attention and re-framed my definition of “The Good Life.” The pastor behind the pulpit mentioned that one of his favorite verses in the Bible is Psalms 119:71:
Well, how about them apples? Apparently, a good day has nothing to do with my happiness.
My interest was now piqued, so right there in the service, I grabbed my fancy phone and headed on over to Bible Gateway to do a quick keyword search. This exercise further expanded my new understanding of what is good when I reflect back on my day.
It is good
- to wait on His name (Psalms 52:9)
- to draw near to God and declare His good works (Psalms 73:28)
- to give thanks to the Lord and sing praise to His name (Psalms 119:71)
- to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord (Lamentations 3:26)
A good one Lyli.
Our definitions may not always be God’s definitions but we can always learn.
He is always re-framing my thinking.
I have been looking at ‘good’ that way lately, too! I wrote on someone else’s blog today that our definition of good is much different than God’s definition. It pleased God to pierce and crush His Son – that is considered good by God. Our definition is more along the lines of if it feels good, then it is good. If it doesn’t feel good, then it isn’t. More ‘feeling’ focused is our definition of good.
Yes, thank you for mentioning that passage from Isaiah, Aimee. As we head into Easter, I am going to be carrying your comment here on my heart.
I think we can be thankful for afflictions…up to a point, and I’m past it.
There’s enough physical pain in every day that it’s no longer pulling me closer to God, or, for that matter, pushing me away. It’s simply something to be endured, to get through to the next moment.
It’s not good, and it’s not growth. If i thought God was doing this to me, or allowing it for a reason, I’d be beyond furious. I’ve seen torture in action, and this would not, under those circumstances, be far off.
But I don’t think God does this. The pain and illness are part of the world in which free will is necessary, and he hates their presence as much as I do…but to eliminate them would be to instigate a clockwork world, inhabited by automatons. It would defeat the purpose.
So He cries at our pain, and offers what he can…His love, and whispers of hope that even in the darkest night, buried under black clouds…there is still starlight in the Heavens.
That’s an awfully sweet nightly ritual! I love it!
Hugs are the best. 🙂
Lyli, I opened my Bible & read that verse for myself, “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.” It is funny how suffering definitely turns our attention to God & teaches us to pay attention to Him. It is all a part of how He works everything for the good of those who love God. Yes, even the suffering part. And I love your nightly ritual!
I love hearing about your nightly ritual and hearing truth about what matters from you. I keep reading messages that bring me back to this: God wants us to draw near to him. He wants us to dwell on him. Thanks for affirming what God is teaching me. xoxo
I am with you, Kristin. Last night, the sermon was actually on Psalms 63, and the pastor mentioned that our circumstances may change, but our God does not. We are under the shadow of His wing today and every day. I want to be right there — cozy with my Jesus.
Today is a good day for a good day. Oh how I love this!
I actually “borrowed” that quote from Joanna Gaines and her show Fixer Upper on HGTV. 🙂
Lyli,
What a lovely nightly ritual 🙂 The Bible defines “good” so much more broadly than we do…and as I read that verse in Psalm, I thought of how much faith, grace and processing it takes to get to that point…not that the affliction is good per se but how one has gained something good through it….thinking of Kara Tippetts and how she chose more of God…I’m working on a post and when I read your words, it went with it…Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yesterday is history, tomorrow may never come, but today is the best day of our life! Thanks for the great post & for hosting & God bless!
Thank you for hosting! I love your end of the day ritual with your husband! God bless, Letetia