Monday was my birthday. It started well. I read the most amazing challenge to hear the inner name God gave me when my body was forming in my mother’s womb. I sat with my mother and drank coffee and talked about the day I was born. It was a great morning.

Monday was also disappointing. Completely unrelated to my birthday.

Monday involved the domino effect — one bit of news cascading into another into another . . . the ripple effect of disappointment.

At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like I thought I should feel. I awoke Tuesday morning with the same thought — I think I should feel something akin to sadness and heart ache. Now, for sure, I was disappointed that plans had to change. But I didn’t feel crippling sadness.

As I walked the beach today, listening to the waves and watching the water cascade in and out, I felt joy. Along with the joy was unexplainable peace that all is well, all is well and all will be well. I was reminded of Paul’s words to the church in Philippi. . .

⁴Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. ⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  ⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

I end the day knowing joy is one of the 10,000 reasons to bless the Lord. There is absolutely nothing I could do on my own to conjure up the peace and joy I experienced today. I give credit to the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life. I listened as he cautioned me to be in the present moment; I acknowledged that God sees this all; I relinquished control. And the peace of God which is beyond anything I can understand is guarding my heart!

How about you? Are you trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Does letting go feel like giving up? What would have to happen for you to move from your present mind set to one of rejoicing? Let’s make lemonade out of lemons!

Happy Hump Day!!!