After a really long day I often (through gritted teeth) hum to myself “count your blessings name them one by one.” But you know what? Sometimes it really ought to be “count your awkward name them one by one.”
Easter came to a close on Sunday and all I really felt like doing was recounting the “off.” Not to complain, but to just speak it instead of it getting choked in my throat and being allowed to morph into an afterthought of bitterness. When babies wake up from naps with fevers resulting in Easter dinners being canceled and the crockpot dries out the chicken to an inedible degree, you thank the Lord that your children are not on social media seeing everyone else’s bright and shining Easter memories. When you’re tucking your child in bed that evening and hear the pained words of “Mom, this was such a tricky day” I just nod and remind her His mercies are new. Then we recount the awkward together. But not without recounting the blessings to give them the last word.
No, we did not get to have Mimi and Papa over for dinner. But phew! It was for the better because that chicken was terrible anyway.
No, the sun wasn’t out dancing with us this afternoon and the gloom led us all the way to bedtime. But the morning was filled with all the celebration from yesterday’s “Easter Eve” preparation (french toast casserole + empty egg banners).
No, Christ’s resurrected body did not resurrect the fact that we still argue with our sisters and feel big emotions and slam doors. But it does give us hope that evil doesn’t have the last word and tomorrow is a new day.
No, Zoom church is not the same as real church. But isn’t it cool how there’s a mute button? (Okay, maybe that was just me recounting the blessing there).
Don’t let social media make you think that there is no place for awkward days and that you’re a total loser mom/person/kid/whatever if your day was just blah. Blah days come. Recount the awkward, recount the blessing, and call it a day. Tomorrow is a new one.
“May the angel of memory surprise you in bleak times with new gifts from the harvest of your vanished days.”
“A blessing for beauty”, John O’Donohue
A Sweet Repose 
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