Party Invitation!

We are about to turn the page on the calendar again.  Second time this year.  Goes by fast doesn't it?  One year starts to bleed into the next and before we know it a decade is tucked into the corridors of history.  Sometimes years seem to pass without our consent and we are left wondering how we have celebrated so many birthdays and so few milestones.  Goals may have been set but not all were accomplished or acknowledged.  Somewhere in the middle of our calendar, after the confetti has been thrown, we allow the world to dictate our schedule and our life is minimized to simple survival.  "Just get through the day," we tell ourselves.   We rush instead of relish and worry instead of worship. Weary existence can sometimes replace celebratory living.
 
There is something about January 1, the New Year that causes us to pause and reconsider this madness.  For some reason, August 18th doesn't motivate us in quite the same manner.  February 25th has no fireworks, champagne or kisses at midnight.  The passing of time has a habit of diluting the enthusiasm that comes with a brand new start.  God tells us however, that His mercies are new every morning.   This indicates that each new day, no matter its date, is gift-wrapped with 24 hours of new beginnings.  God intended each day to be an observed holiday; a festival of opportunities, relationships, beauties, challenges and chances to celebrate the Creator and thank Him for this gift of being.  I was created out of His sheer pleasure and I have access to His absolute joy.  Somebody toast that!  Somebody kiss me!  That's worth celebrating, everyday.  This day.  Print the T-shirts, get out the party horns and spread the word!
 
I paid nothing for the breath I just took or the mystery that keeps my heart pumping; they are gifts from a loving creator.  I get to witness the rain falling, the snow accumulating, the trees growing in my front yard and the unique sunset He paints for me each evening.  Gifts.  Opportunities for me to put on a party hat and celebrate every single day of my life.  I have the music of Mozart and the mercy of the Messiah.  I have ears that partake of the sweet sound of those in my life who choose to share their hearts with me.  I have a capacity for emotion that is not necessary to keep me physically alive but certainly makes it worth my efforts to stay that way.  I get sad.  I feel joy.  I get angry.  I love, I laugh, I cry and I dream.  All are part of the party God designed for us to live.  All, gifts.  I have been given God in my soul, His Spirit in my flesh and Christ in my place, so that heaven is my destination.  I have temporary blessings and eternal treasures.  On a moment-to-moment basis, I have more reasons to give thanks than I have to do anything else.  That sounds like something I want to throw a party for! 
 
I did nothing to merit the moments it took to write these words.  For that matter, I did nothing to be entitled to the valuable time you spent reading them.  Each a gift to me underserved and invaluable.  Whether it is the first day of the year or an unremarkable cold day tucked somewhere at the end of the second month, I am learning to unwrap gifts and celebrate them.  I am attempting to see each moment, no matter what the moment contains as a commemoration of all that has been granted to me.  Each day we are invited to a party thrown in our honor.  I write these words as an invitation.  I hope you will accept.  Please join me in this celebration of life!  All of it.  Every single 'new mercy' day of it.  If you do, I believe that that someday our lives will be the living "thank-you note" that our Host deserves! 
 
Lamentations 3:22-23 [Because of] the Lord's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

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