A Good Day

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalms 118:24

Yesterday was my 14th wedding anniversary. I spent the early part of the day at home with my family. My wife had the beginnings of a migraine, so I stayed home, spending some time with my children. Around mid-to-late morning, I went into work, taking my son, Andrew, with me since he's on Fall Break. Tracy took Sara to work with her.

Andrew and I had fun at work. He watched a movie, played with his Nintendo DS, fiddled with all of my office supplies, punching holes in paper, making paper airplanes, etc. He and I then went to lunch together, which he loved. Around the middle part of the afternoon, Tracy came and picked him up, and I went to the gym to get a little exercise for the day. After that, I made a quick jaunt to the store to pick up a small anniversary present and card, and then we met at one of our favorite restaurants to eat dinner.

We ate (pigged out actually), talked, discussed our 14 years, our kids, church, work, and a whole host of other topics. Then, we went to see a movie, which I'd probably rate slightly above average (a 6 out of 10, or so). Tracy and I then went home, visited with my mom, who was watching our children.

After this, I watched most of the presidential debate, chilled on the couch, relaxed, still feeling overly stuffed from the excessive meal. We got the kids in bed and finished off our anniversary with some alone time.

All in all, with everything considered, it was a good day.

Andrew is in 2nd grade now, and ever since he began Kindergarten, my wife has been the one to take him to school nearly every single morning. Since he has to be there by 8 a.m., most mornings I am still in bed when they leavek, and the routine is nearly always the same.

She gets Andrew ready for school, getting him dressed, packing his backpack, serving him breakfast, etc. And, just before they leave, assuming I'm still asleep, he will always come upstairs to say good-bye. It has evolved into a "Groundhog Day"-like routine that I cherish. Nearly every single time, it's the exact same thing over and over.

Andrew crawls in bed with me, gives me a hug. I then turn over and he gives me a kiss. Then, he always says, "I love you, Dad." I respond in kind, and then, this is my favorite part and I'm not really sure why, nor do I know how it ever even started.

The last thing he always says to me is: "I hope you have a good day."

And, I always respond: "You too, bud."

Then, he's off to school.

Every day, as I hear him bounding down the steps, I just smile, amazed by how much those seven words mean to me.

It's an odd thing for a seven-year-old to say to a dad, I think, but every day, it seems so genuine, like he really wants me to have a good day, and I always genuinely want him to have a good day at school too.

So, today, reflecting on my anniversary from yesterday, I thought to myself that it truly was a good day. It was a special day, a celebration, but it was more than that. I spent extra time in the morning with my children, then my son got to go to work with me, and we got to have lunch together. Then, I was able to use my body for some physical exercise, before spending a nice evening on a date with my wife.

A good day.

But, was it? I didn't feel it at the time, but something was missing. All the stuff I did was fun, pleasant, or enjoyable, but there was in fact something missing.

I've been spending time in the Word nearly every single day lately, studying, exctracting verses for closer inspection, and getting to know God more and more. I usually spend time praying to God several times per day, and a lot of times, I will stop and reflect on God's awesomeness, His power, His mercy and grace, basically taking moments out of my day for worship.

But, yesterday, for some reason, I didn't do any of that, and I'm not sure why. Was I too busy? Too engrossed in what I was doing, the fun I was having, the time I was spending with my loved ones, the things that are the most important to me? I'm not really sure why, but at the end of the day, despite the fact that the day I had was truly a "good day," I know I could have had a better day had I spent some time with Him, reading His Word, praying to Him, listening to Him, worshipping Him, thanking Him, etc.

Do I have to replace the time I spent with my family or exercising or working with these things? Absolutely not, but if I can find time for all of the stuff I do in a day, can't I make some time for God?

So, from this point forward, when Andrew says to me, "I hope you have a good day," I am going to make it a point to remember that a truly good day isn't just when you have fun with your family, or get to do something exciting or cool, but instead, a truly good day is when you get to do all of those things while also spending time with Him.

God bless,


Sean Hanzelik

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