The Sovereign Lord has taught me what to say, so that I can strengthen the weary. Every morning he makes me eager to hear what he is going to teach me.
Isaiah 50:4
As a child, I would often hear my father declare every day a "beautiful day!" That was, of course, without regard to what the weather was actually doing. He almost invariably welcomed each day as a gift and met each with what struck me then as unseemly optimism and enthusiasm. I mean, what could be "beautiful" about another 100 degree day in South Carolina and how could anyone be optimistic while facing what seemed to my childish mind to be yet another day of drudgery filled with insurmountable obstacles?
Now, as an adult, I know that I have experienced and think that I am finally embracing what my father must surely have known: that God loves people through people. As one of God's beloveds, he recognized and attempted to live his commission. He sought to listen, encourage, teach, and bring hope whenever, however, and wherever he could.
I find it all too easy to exist solely in my personal space remaining pre-occupied with my own concerns. I struggle to remind myself that it is really not all about me. With each passing year I realize ever more keenly that each day is, indeed, a wonderful gift. That gift brings with it, I believe, the responsibility to try to make each day count in some positive way. I pray that I, too, will be able to greet each day with joy and hope and with a listening heart so that I may live out the myriad small ways -- and perhaps on occasion not so small ways -- in which I have an opportunity to show God's love.
Mildred W. Robinson
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