DAY 41: SATURDAY

LET YOURSELF ENJOY WHAT IS GOOD

“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

MY PRAYER FOR YOU

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for bringing this woman to another Saturday. She has spent this week looking honestly at old patterns, guilt, forgiveness, relationships, fear, and the ways she has learned to protect herself.

Today, let her rest from examining everything.

Help her notice what is good without immediately wondering how long it will last. When something makes her smile, let her smile. When her children are laughing, help her join them instead of thinking about the next thing that needs to be done. When someone loves her well, help her receive it without searching for what might go wrong later.

Teach her that joy is not irresponsibility. Enjoying what You have given her does not mean she has forgotten the difficult things or stopped growing.

Give her permission to be present in the life happening right now.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

DEVOTIONAL

It is Saturday, which means we are keeping today lighter.

You have done enough digging for one week.

Today, practice receiving something good.

“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

Sometimes receiving joy takes practice too.

If you have lived through enough disappointment, you may notice yourself becoming cautious when things are going well.

You enjoy something, but part of you is already wondering when it will end. Someone treats you well, but you are waiting to see whether they change. Your children are doing well, but your mind begins searching for the next concern. Life becomes peaceful, and instead of enjoying the peace, you start preparing for the next problem.

We have already talked about why that happens.

Today, we are not going to analyze it again.

Today, we are going to practice something different.

Enjoy what is good while it is good.

You do not need a guarantee that something will last forever before you are allowed to appreciate it today.

A beautiful afternoon does not become less beautiful because evening will eventually come. Your child being little today does not become less precious because they will grow up. A good season does not become meaningless because seasons change.

Sometimes the temporary nature of something is exactly why we should pay attention to it.

Your children will not always be the ages they are now.

The routines that sometimes exhaust you will change.

The toys will disappear from the floor.

The shoes by the door will get bigger and eventually belong somewhere else.

The conversations will change.

The people sitting around your table today will grow and build lives of their own.

You do not need to become sad about that.

Just notice today.

There is a difference between being present and trying to preserve a moment.

You cannot hold time still.

You can live inside it while it is here.

Maybe there is laundry waiting.

Maybe the house is not completely clean.

Maybe there is still something unresolved in your life.

Maybe you are waiting for God to answer a prayer.

None of those things mean you have to postpone joy.

Peace before promise means learning that life is still happening while you wait.

You do not have to say, “I will enjoy my life when this is settled.”

You can enjoy something now.

You can laugh before everything is fixed.

You can celebrate before every prayer has been answered.

You can receive love without demanding a guarantee about tomorrow.

You can enjoy your children while still carrying concerns about them.

You can be grateful and still be waiting.

Joy does not deny what is difficult.

It simply refuses to let what is difficult become the only thing you can see.

Your children need this from you too.

They need a mother who knows how to stop correcting, teaching, planning, cleaning, managing, and worrying long enough to enjoy them.

Not perfectly.

Not constantly.

Just enough that they know their presence brings you joy.

Let them catch you smiling at them.

Laugh with them.

Listen when they tell you something that feels completely unimportant to an adult but matters deeply to them.

Say yes to something simple if you can.

Sit beside them.

Watch the ridiculous video.

Play the game.

Take the walk.

Eat the ice cream.

Let the dishes wait twenty minutes.

These are not interruptions to the important work of motherhood.

This is motherhood too.

And if your children are older, the invitation still matters.

Listen when they talk.

Let conversations wander.

Enjoy who they are becoming instead of constantly evaluating whether they are becoming correctly.

You have spent plenty of time this week learning.

Today, enjoy some of the people and things God has already placed in your life.

You do not need to earn this day.

Receive it.

TAKE A MOMENT

Look around you.

What is good right now?

Do not search for something profound. Notice something ordinary.

A person you love. A comfortable home. Food on the table. Sunshine. Rain. Music. Coffee. A pet sleeping nearby. A child telling you a story. A quiet moment.

Whatever it is, stop long enough to actually enjoy it.

JOURNAL WITH GOD

What is something good in my life right now that I have not slowed down enough to enjoy?

Do I sometimes hesitate to enjoy good seasons because I am afraid something will change?

What is one simple thing I want to enjoy today?

YOUR TIME WITH GOD

Keep your time with God simple today.

Thank Him.

Not only for the enormous things.

Thank Him for something ordinary.

Then ask Him to help you notice the day you are actually living instead of mentally rushing ahead to the next one.

After that, go enjoy something.

You do not need to turn it into a lesson.

You do not need to document it.

You do not need to make it productive.

Just be there.

Let yourself laugh.

Let yourself receive love.

Let yourself enjoy your children.

Let yourself enjoy the life God has given you while you are still waiting for some parts of it to change.

Tomorrow has its own concerns.

Today has its own gifts.

Do not miss today's gifts because you are watching for tomorrow's problems.

This is the day the Lord has made.

Let yourself be glad in it.