Cherish Each Day

I am so excited to be sharing with you about this topic. This is a lesson I learned the hard way. I am so grateful that our faithful God takes the time to gently teach me… even if I'm as dense as they get.

My "short" story... Short is a relative term right?

Picture this:  I marry the man of my dreams.  A man I have been great friends with for nine years.  I used to give him girl advice…  WOW, did that ever pay off!  Oh the first year was so easy to cherish.  It makes me smile just thinking about the awesome things God did for us that first year!  Then we decide we should start trying for a baby.  We used to talk about having eight kids.  It started as just an exciting journey, all the names and what’s and where’s we dreamt of.  Again, those were easy days to cherish.  Then the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth years came and went and there were no babies. No booties. No onesies. No due dates.  

Those days were not so easy to cherish.  By the beginning of the seventh year I was so discouraged and sad.  I didn't question that God was able. I just wanted so badly to know why He chose not to.

Then something happened… 

I gave up!  I gave up trying to figure it out, I gave up trying to fix it, I gave up trying to make God fit into my reasoning. There I stood, just me, physically and spiritually broken.  It was at that moment that I realized my eyes had been fixed on the end result and not the journey.  This is when I realized how precious each day is.  Not just the end results!

Have you ever heard the saying “The days are long but the years are short"? Isn't it SO true?

Believe it or not it was only a few short weeks after that when we found out we were pregnant.  And the true blessing in all of this? Being able to cherish a day before it passes.  I am so grateful I learned this lesson before having our little miracle. Oh! To live in the moment and not have to lie in bed at the end of the day and regret the moments I might have missed!

In a funk… again...

I warned you I was dense!  Just a few months ago I found myself venting to a girlfriend that I was super discouraged and feeling pretty much like a failure.  I couldn't seem to stick with anything-let alone do the things I felt God calling me to… I was in a funk… again. But my sweet friend reminded me that it is in the process. 

What would we do without good girlfriends?  Pretty sure I'd be in a straight jacket by now! Can I get an AMEN?

The Process

How quickly I forget!  How fast I can hone in on the end results and the tasks and duties and forget the greater goal...the process.  How precious the process! 

It is waking up, taking a deep breath, grabbing God's hand, and facing the day. His love and grace is not something I earn.  It is simply waking up and saying I surrender! I give up!  You, dear Lord, be the author of this day.   This day is an opportunity to be shaped by the Creator of the universe… oh how much easier it is to cherish the day, to embrace the process, to enjoy the journey when I remember what is most important.

It isn't about having the cleanest house or the best homemade meals or the best-dressed, cleanest child on the block, or even memorizing the most Scriptures.  It is about walking with God!  My day, today, this very moment is about being in relationship with Him.  It is so hard to put aside the things that demand our time and the responsibilities at hand and rest in the presence of God.  To dwell in the shelter of the Most High.  And yet when the day is done, the things I cherish aren't clean dishes and folded laundry, but the smiles of my daughter as we read books and the echo of her laugh as we danced around the kitchen or the encouraging Scripture that resounds in my head reminding me that my God is faithful and true.

I have learned that what makes a day worth cherishing is when I start in prayer and worship first thing! So I would like to end with the song I've been singing the last few days.  It will be familiar to most of you but I would encourage you to take a moment and really read the words!

I Surrender All

     All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;

     
I will ever love and trust Him, 
In His presence daily live.


     I surrender all,
I surrender all;


     All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
 I surrender all.

     All to Jesus I surrender;
 Humbly at His feet I bow,
 

     Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
 

     Take me, Jesus, take me now.

     All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;


     Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.

     All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;


     Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

     All to Jesus I surrender;
 Now I feel the sacred flame.


     Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!

 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 

     Psalm 91:1

This verse reminds me that I am never alone and that each day, even the hard ones, are worth cherishing when I grab my Abba's hand!

About Me

My name is Didi Farmer. I am an Arizona native born and raised in Flagstaff.  I have three sisters who are my very best friends in life.  Josh and I met 18 years ago this month.  I told my mom at thirteen that I was going to marry him someday.  We will celebrate our ninth anniversary in September.   We have one huge blessing, Emma Jo, and she is the light of our lives.  Our lives haven't been perfect and neither are we, but we are growing together striving to bring glory to God.