Let us give thanks to the LORD for His mercy and the wonders He does for His children. For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. based on Psalm 107:8–9
By taking Paul at his word…If we seek to lead a quiet life, attending to our affairs and working with our hands, we might discover more space for God-honouring merriment. At every turn, as we drive our children back to school for the start of a new term, and in each smile, as we greet our office colleagues at the outset of a new year, I suspect our eyes and our ears will open up widely. We will begin to both witness and then bear witness to the blessings by which we are ceaselessly surrounded, allowing our hearts and our minds to flood with unending joy. -Dana Mahan
Last night was all about merriment. That is the absolutely spot-on word to describe dinner with Joella and Tobias who take delight in every turn of life, and celebrate each story detail or ironic kitchen tool or savory bite of hot-off-the-hibachi steak with laughter. Or their dog racing pell-mell, chasing a flashlight beam back and forth across the dusty yard.
And I repent of allowing the paper shuffle and pressing deadlines and where-is-that-crazy-fingerprint card to wipe the smile right off my face.
Yesterday one of my students sidled up to me with a “You make my heart soar” valentine and even a sideways hug. This is the student who when I knelt beside her to ask about the routine face plant on the desk every single class, every single hour of every single day told me, “You need to know, Miss, that I don’t listen to teachers, ever.” I even glimpsed a smile from behind the straight comb-down-over-the-face hair when I told her it was going onto my refrigerator with a magnet.
Open my eyes widely, LORD God, that I might bear witness of the wonders You do for Your children.
If we live out our days in the light of Scripture, we have no excuse for misallocating our happiness. -Dana Mahan
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