Had a Bad Day

Where is the moment we needed the most?
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost.
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey.
They tell me your passion's gone away...
You had a bad day, you're taking one down.
You sing a sad song just to turn it around.
(Daniel Powter)

Hey, we all have 'em -- bad days, disappointments, discouragements, frustrations. Heck, I had a whole season of bad days last year, and I'd like to think I'm getting better at rolling with the punches that life (and, sadly, people) throw our way.

Wednesday was a bad day for me. It started out well enough, and I had a pretty productive time in the office knocking things off my "to do" list. But we were waiting to hear about the sale of our home. A couple of weeks ago, we were given an offer on our home that was really below market value and came with a very long and disadvantageous contingency. We countered. They countered. We countered again, and they did, too. We were ready to come to an agreement and finally complete the deal. But just before going to bed, Margo called and said that the whole thing may be on hold. We received word that the buyers might want to delay a couple of weeks (?!) until they could fly out to Arizona and check out the house again.

I went to bed feeling pretty bummed. I'm really missing Margo and the kids, and I'm eager to begin our new life here in Virginia... together. I still trust God entirely in this process; there's this deep sense of peace because I know he's in control and guiding the events of our lives. But I was ready to celebrate and had to put that joy on hold. To make it worse, when I finally fell asleep, I was awakened by a bad dream about a guy from our old church who had been pretty abusive to me and my kids. It caught me off guard, and I found myself praying and revisiting the whole challenge of forgiving. (It's so much easier to forgive when someone asks for it, isn't it? But more on that another day...)

So I had a bad day. And I awoke the next morning feeling tired. The skies were gray and overcast like my mood. I was kind of annoyed because of the choices of other people. Grrrr.

Then I ran into a passage of scripture that just percolated in my thoughts all day: "Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." (Colossians 3:12-16) Notice the word "must" here: You must clothe yourselves with God's character. You must forgive others. And those attitudes that should fill our lives — tender heart, merciful, kind, humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, loving, harmonious, peaceful, thankful. Those aren't based on our circumstances, and they must not be worn away by the bad days... or even by the bad people of the world (even if they play games with you on real estate deals, or if they're mean to you in church/work/school/whatever).

I figure I've got enough to work on when it comes to filling my life with the richness of Christ and clothing myself with his character — so much that there really isn't time to wallow in disappointment on a bad day. There are songs that must be sung, and wisdom that must be taught, and joy that must be lived. There are even people that must be forgiven and loved.

Thanks for the reminder, God.