good days...

Each night when I tuck my older daughter in she prays,

"Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. Please help us to have a WONderful life. Help every day to be a good day. Please let us not get sick for a VERY long time, Lord, please, help everyone in the whole wide world to have good dreams tonight..."

... and then she continues on with a variation of thanksgiving & supplication- whatever is on her heart.

But I find it interesting that she always begins her prayers the same way, requesting that He give us a wonderful life. First of all, I think that God has blessed us with a great life. And as far as my 7 year old is concerned, a life that is pretty much trouble free and by most accounts, pretty "wonderful."

But, as far as her Mother goes- I have weathered my fair share of challenges throughout these 33 years. A childhood that was neither necessarily stable, nor balanced- though, fortunately, I still knew my parents loved me. An adolescence period that was as challenging and awkward as any other teenagers. Fast forward to my 20's which were filled with milestones... graduating college, getting married, having my first couple of children... each which came with it's own set of new challenges to overcome.

Were all of my days, "good days?"

... of course the answer to that is a resounding NO! Some days have been great. Some days have been exhausting. Some days I've worn my knees bare and my cheeks left stained with tears begging God for his intervention and his peace.

When my daughter prays, in all honesty, at times I want to say- "listen, honey- that's not how life works. All our days are not going to be good days and we might get sick tomorrow, which is not God's fault. And, furthermore, everyone in the whole wide world is not asleep at the same time, so it would be impossible for them to all have good dreams at the same time while you are sleeping." But- instead, I just stay quiet. She'll have many years of revelation ahead in which she'll draw her own conclusions.

For now, I just enjoy her innocence. And, frankly, I just like to have 3 minutes or so of living in my daughters bubble where everything is safe, "wonderful," and everyone in the whole world sleeps with good dreams.

But despite the harshness of the reality of this fallen world, I remain grateful and thankful that God is always- ALWAYS- with me. It's not necessarily during the "good days" where I find myself closest to Him. It the times when I'm scared (terrified!?!), desperate, exhausted, confused, angry or sad that I find myself not just closest to Him, but clinging to the hope I have in Him.

Life does not always make sense. Life is not always wonderful. But life is ALWAYS full of hope, when you place your life in His hands. "cast all your anxieties on Him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Even though, for now, my daughter innocently believes that all our days might just be "good days"- what I wish for, more than anything, is that she will also come to believe- with all of her heart- in the true and living hope of our Father. That she will know that "God loved us, and through his grace he gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever." (2 Thes. 2:16-17)

It's that truth- and that promise- that will sustain us, keep us, bless us .... and help us to "make every day a good day."