The older I get, the more I have come to realize that life isn’t always peachy. Some days are just a lot tougher than others. Getting out of bed isn’t always easy when you have had dark clouds chasing you for weeks.
It is on days like these that I am tempted to call in sick and remedy my woes with some well deserved alone time. Life seems better with my head buried beneath a soft fluffy pillow. I escape the worries of the world in a place where my mind shifts into neutral. The demands of the day are silenced.
Try as I might, hiding from the sunlight never seems to solve any of the challenges I’m facing. The longer I wait to face the music, the harder it gets to resolve the issues at hand. At some point, reality sets in and I have to crank myself off the mattress and into this thing we call life.
The smell of freshly-brewed coffee has a way of awakening my inner strength. I’m not sure if it is the comforting warmth of the coffee cup between my hands or the stimulating caffeine that gets my motor running. Either way, it’s one of my favorite things. Who would have ever thought that coffee pits, when freshly ground, would be the breakfast of champions? You knew coffee beans are really coffee pits didn’t you? Coffee is one of my favorite things.
Do you remember the lyrics from the Sound of Music? “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things. Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudles, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles, wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, these are a few of my favorite things. Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt into springs, these are a few of my favorite things. When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”
Favorite things have a way of bringing sunshine into an otherwise lackluster day. Favorite things serve as little motivators to get us through the bumps, curves and valleys of everyday life. Sometimes, it’s a favorite song, a favorite dessert or a favorite Scripture that brings breakthrough.
God knew we would have days like these. I think that is why He gave us a simple little reminder in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.”
These are a few of God’s favorite things. When His thoughts become my thoughts, come what may, it’s going to be a God-sized day.
