Reason to Celebrate

"They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening..." 1 Chronicles 23:30

We watched a video in church yesterday that was very moving...it was about baby that was not expected to make it through childbirth. The documentary of the boy's life was narrated by his father in short letters about what he did that day. The child was sick and in every picture and home video he had tubes in his nose. But the most impressive thing was the way that the parents handled the situation...Their son was not expected to live very long...so they celebrated every day and took joy in the tedious tasks of caring for him. For the first few weeks of the child's life, they had a birthday party every day on the hour of his birth, with pictures from each party.
As I watched the video I felt guilty, not for being healthy and having a healthy family, but for taking every day for granted. We have been given an invaluable gift, and instead of accepting it joyfully, we tend to moan and groan about all the "things that make life hard." We get so caught up in thinking about all the stresses that we forget to enjoy life....more importantly, we forget to thank God and celebrate each day. When I was an intern with Project Transformation, we began every day with the children and youth we worked with by having Harambee - a Swahili word meaning "pulling together." During Harambee, we would sing silly songs, and just celebrate the fact that we were all there that day...those fifteen minutes were usually some of my favorite parts of the day. I miss that. I miss the kids. I miss the passion for life.
This week, I'm going to try to get out bed with an understanding that today does not bring more tasks, or stresses, but that each day brings sunshine, life, and is a gift that I should accept with a smile and a song. Feel free to join me.