Mondays…

It’s another day. Another Monday. I really didn´t want to get out of bed this morning and go to school. It was one of those mornings where you want nothing more than to just roll back over and sleep for 5 more days. I could also see my breath when I woke up this morning, it was that cold in my room. Although, I´m surprisingly getting used to that. Chilean winters aren´t too fierce but sometimes the mornings can be tough. Either way, I made it to the school and I´m sitting here now preparing for my last week of school. It’s crazy to think that I only have 2 weeks left here in Chile, and only one week left at the school. I would be lying if I didn´t say that doesn´t excite me a bit (or maybe even a lot). But, I know that every day counts and I´m trying to make the most of my last few days here.

I haven´t written a blog post for a while, partly because of a lack of time, but even more so because I couldn´t come to any conclusions on what to write about. It´s not because I have nothing to share, because trust me – I do! I´m just hyper aware of my audience, my purpose in writing these blogs, and my genuine desire to write honest and informative reflections. I have good days, I have bad days. I sometimes have small, but significant moments with students, and sometimes I just “survive” the day. But, the truth of it all is that the days are harder than they are easy. And in hard times and in our discomfort (in a new place, in new relationships, new environments, etc.) it´s easy to focus on everything that´s hard and everything that we don´t like. Maybe you´re just more positive than I am, and that´s not something you struggle with. But, I think if we´re honest with ourselves, we all get caught up in focusing on the wrong things sometimes.

Today when I woke up all I could focus on was how much I didn´t want to go to school and how much I just wanted this week to be over already. But, here I am at school and I´ve found myself humming a very familiar song. I don´t know how it got stuck in my head, but it did. I´ve got the Matt Redman, 10,000 Reasons song stuck in my head. I remember when that song first came out and it was so popular. We sang it almost every week in church and I learned it on the piano so I could play it all the time at home. I haven´t really sung that song for a while now, but for some reason I found my self singing it today.

The song starts out with the words, “The sun comes up, it´s a new day dawning. It´s time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, Let me be singing when the evening comes……..” I have never in my life thought more about those words than I have today. What I viewed my mornings as another chance to sing His song? What if I genuinely, truly and honestly, let myself trust the Lord more? I know I should. Of course I know I should. But easier said than done, right? I think it’s crazy the way God works. The way God uses small things, small moments, friends, teachers, and even songs to speak to us. I don´t have many wise words to say in response to this. But, I´m encouraged. And I´m challenged. And I´m reminded that we really do have, as the song continues, 10,000 reasons to sing His praises.

Join me today in making this Monday (and every day) a day of praises!