Today Is The Day
I’m writing this on February 15th after saying to my hubby, “Wow, I can’t believe how many people share their love for each other on Valentine’s Day and post pictures on Facebook to share with the rest of us!” This morning I scrolled through pictures of dinners, flowers, candy, husbands and wives, parents and kids, and check-ins at cool places. Then I said, “How come we never celebrate our birthdays, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day?” He replied, “We’ve never done that in 31 years of marriage.” To which I replied, “Maybe we should.” He agreed.
[pullquote width=”300″ float=”left”]So I went back. Back to Facebook. But this time to my own photos and not my feed.[/pullquote]Celebration should be part of life. I’m not quite sure why celebrating milestones and holidays never really became part of the fabric of our marriage. Over the years there’s been an occasional gift, surprise party, or dinner out, but in all honesty neither of us has put much energy into celebrating things together. I’m not quite sure what this means, if anything.
Then I started thinking back and these words came to my mind: ”Celebrate what God has done.” Then came Lincoln Brewster’s lyrics:
Today is the day You have made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
And finally came Psalm 118, more specifically verse 24, “This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Rejoice. Be glad. Celebrate. God gives us every new day.
The Bible’s original Hebrew and Greek words paint quite a fantastic picture of celebrating: to make a pilgrimage, shine, rest, laugh, relate, rehearse, remember, make music, beautify, give honor, praise, profess, confess, cheer, make merry, renown, proclaim, sing, laud.
Wow, if those words don’t help me get why celebration is so wonderful and important, none will!
So I went back. Back to Facebook. But this time to my own photos and not my feed. I started scrolling in search of one picture.
This picture is of me and Kevin celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary at a surprise party given by our kids and some really good friends. I cherish the memory of that celebration with so many surrounding us to honor the day two became one! Yes, that’s cake in our hands as our friends and family cheered us on to re-enact that moment from our wedding reception. I laughed so hard because I felt silly and special at the same time.
Looking at this photograph took me to many others. And much to my delight I saw hundreds of pictures of celebrations. Celebrations that happened because we became a family! There have been weddings, and babies, and birthdays, and vacations, and celebrations of life.
We have celebrated. It’s just never been with stuff. And God has reminded me, on this cold and snowy day, that today is the day. It’s the day I stop thinking my life is without celebration. It’s today and all the days going forward that I will shine, laugh, sing, make music…well, you get it.
“…I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
By sharing her personal faith experiences, her thoughts about following Jesus and what it's like being part of his church, she hopes to help some navigate a new journey and challenge those already on the journey as they travel the faith road together.
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“Rejoice. Be glad. Celebrate. God gives us every new day.” Always a reason to celebrate. A new day. And the older I get the more I appreciate that daily gift. Thank, Terri, for the reminder that celebration doesn’t always include things, but always includes God.
Rejoice and be glad in it all because God’s in in all. Makes me feel so grateful.
I just had a similar conversation with a friend, the experience is the celebration….the things or trappings don’t always fit, they may get old or lost…but the experience is what makes the memory!! That’s the celebration!
Amen, sister.
That’s one of my favorite songs. 🙂 Todd and I don’t do a lot of celebrating things, either. It was always the thought that “every day is a celebration”. Except that’s a little bogus! lol I’ve been thinking we need to change that around here, too.
Let’s do it…let’s do some celebrating with our sweethearts!
Lovely. Yes, we don’t have to look far for reasons to celebrate – especially good to remember when we have too much access (IMHO) to today’s to incredibly hard/sad information all of the time. God is still good and He is still on the throne making sure the sun rises and sets. Love the anniversary picture of the two of you.
Thanks, Gretchen. It was a wonderful day; one I’ll always remember. This post really made me stop and think about what’s really worth celebrating.
Love that song, now it’s in my head and I’ll rejoice and be glad in it.
Today is a good day for a good day, it might be the only one we have.
My family pokes fun at me, I tend to over-celebrate. Maybe part of the reason they call me the President of NerdCo.
So thankful that God celebrates every part of our day with us.
You’re a gift to your family for those celebrations. I need to be a bit more nerdy 🙂