Good Morning, Glory

“Good Morning, Glory!” Cordelia Armstrong’s bright smile and aged twittering voice would ring out every time you met her. In her eighties, she made every visit to her home a bright spot in anyone’s day. She even added a beautiful Morning Glory flower, its vines winding up her mailbox post, to greet every visitor who approached her driveway.  Her life effused anticipation that every day was a new opportunity for joy, kindness, and hope. It was a choice, one she made daily even in her old age.

Today is July 4th, a traditional American holiday celebrating freedom. Many of us remember family picnics, summer iced tea, potato salad, hamburgers off the grill, and fireworks. For some of us, those are memories long past. Yet Cordelia’s life demonstrates that you can live in freedom regardless of your circumstances.  The science we discussed these last weeks about the brain regenerating itself nightly as we sleep (making a new outlook on life possible every day) and the warm embrace of people like Cordelia prove the Apostle Paul’s challenge, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14).”

Whatever you’re doing today, wherever you are, exercise your freedom to choose the type of day you want. Choose to enjoy the day. As you trust God to shape and form “Your Refreshed Life” according to His unique plan for you, reject any negative memories of the past or any sense of loss, and make new memories. If family is not nearby, sit in the sun and enjoy God’s Presence. Take a walk. Call a friend. Watercolor. Play the piano. Grill hamburgers and make potato salad and invite a friend to join you.

As we move this month from a focus on renewal to re-energizing our lives, let’s start today. Stop staring in the rear-view mirror and begin looking forward. Leave past regrets behind and embrace the freedom that is yours… freedom to live and embrace the life God designed just for you. He alone knows best what will give you joy and He stands ready offing it to you. Reach out and take His hand.