"Have a Nice Day!"

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I was walking out of Caribou Coffee with my Heath Bar Frappaccino , and the girl said, “Have a nice day!”

I couldn’t help but recognize the irony. I’d just come from meeting with the pastor to plan my mom’s funeral service and was on my way home to finish up the last things before heading over to the visitation. So when she said this common pleasantry, it made me wonder: What would you say if I told you what I was doing today? And if you knew, would you still wish me a nice day?

But then I thought, what makes a day a “nice” day? Is it a day that is easy? Pleasurable? Happy? Trouble-free?

What constitutes a “nice day”?
If a day is filled with love and laughter and peace, would that make it a nice day?

This day has been filled with love as family and friends have come to share their sympathy for us and their admiration for my mom, and many tears have glistened in the eyes of those who will miss her, because she was loved.

There has been laughter as stories have flowed about good times people have shared with my mom, and there has been lots of laughter looking at the old photographs and all those strange clothes and hairstyles.

There has been peace: There is the peace that comes from knowing she is now home with her Lord in heaven and reunited with her husband. There is the peace seen in her life as she followed God and as she trusted God to always watch out for her, and He always did. There is peace for her children, who know that her sudden illness was not random, but just one of all the moments God had laid out for her before she ever took her first breath (Ps. 139:16), and we know that she had finished the work He’d appointed for her to do.

So, you know what? This wasn’t the greatest day and it was filled with moments of sorrow and loneliness and grief, but the blessing of family and friends who have come to comfort us and the blessing of knowing Mom and remembering and seeing how she touched so many because she just loved whoever she came into contact with really has made this a nice day.

Comments

chrisd said…
Becky-

sending a hug over the net.

I'm so sorry about your mom. She was always so kind to me and she seemed very strong in her faith at Bible Study.

I see her fingerprints all over your life and in your faith.

She will be missed here on earth.

Much love-
August 27, 2007 at 3:11 PM
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