i will be rejoice and be glad in it...

Yes, yes, three posts in one day is obscene and creates a standard I most certainly can not and will not live up to. But enjoy it while it lasts. The lack of sleep tends toward either of two extremes, excessive joy, or the grouch. Today, the lack of sleep has led to the former.

It’s difficult to be in a bad mood when the weather is so terrific. More so when we are only a couple days away from Christmas! Today feels like the first day of true spring; an odd feeling for the winter solstice. Perhaps it’s the mystique of the solace or simply the fresh breeze, but for once, all feels well.

These tend to be the moments you live for. I’m beginning to learn a lesson I wish I heeded years ago; the more you look for joy in your daily circumstance, the more you find it. For some reason it just clicked today. I went to sleep with all the weight of a very difficult day, the fruition of the headache began early in the morning now blooming in full and the sound of my own frustrated voice lulling me into a poor restless sleep.

I began a project at 0900 and worked full on until 0300 the following morning. The frustration of fixing other’s work while fully accepting the heat they deserved tends to put you in a tiff. I dreamt of work. My feet froze. I slept in my flight suit as I was on 15 min alert and there was no time to change.

Yet as the door swung open at 0700 and the tenor of the young Petty Officer awoke my crew alerting us of a MEDEVAC in process, the weight and worries of the previous day fell away. I’m so reminded of the bit, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made. I will be rejoice and be glad in it’. I grabbed on to the promises and it held fast.

Today is essentially no different then any other day. However, my mentality changed. With it came a sea change of realization. There are multiple ideas to the above statement. In the first stage, the reader understands God is in control and your only response is to rejoice – the feeling is freeing. The reader then gains appreciation of his responsibility to rejoice and be glad despite circumstances because the day belongs to the Lord God Almighty – the feeling is heavy. Next our reader sees the duality of responsibility as it is not his responsibility to create the day rather rejoice despite the day – the feeling ebbs to partnership. Lastly the reader reaches understanding and rejoices not in the day, but the Creator of the day.

Rejoice today for our God is one.