So I commend the enjoyment of life,
because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. Ecclesiastes. 8:15
Heavenly Father, the past several weeks have been disruptive, and at times, disheartening. Thank you for understanding our frailty and fears. Maybe the biggest upside of this “pandemia” has been our change of pace.
If you never commanded Sabbath rest, we probably wouldn’t take it. We’d be “couch potatoes,” but not necessarily “deep savorers” of you, and your good gifts to us. So today, I’m slowing down enough just to say thank you—thank you for designing us for pleasure, and for the experience of delight.
Father, thank you for intending joy to be our traveling companion all the days you have given us under the sun. Here’s a few things I’ve come to treasure afresh during this unique season. Thank you for unrushed, daily walks. After whining about no longer being able to run, I wish I’d started sensory-stimulating, heart-centering walks sooner.
Thank you for the joy I’ve discovered in baking for family and friends. I trust the “Ahhh-giving” aroma of nearly-out-of-the-oven bread will live on from this world to the next. Thank you for a season to learn watercoloring from my wife; and freedom to be more present with her, than perfectionistic about my brush strokes.
Thank you for canceling our trips to Europe, so we can have trips to our grandsons’ backyard theatre of bubble-blowing, fun-making joy. Thank you for helping me see the Son-rise in every sunset. Jesus’ hand and heart are everywhere—if we just take the time to linger, listen, and look. So very Amen I pray, in His wonderful, merciful name.