A Practically Perfect Day

Light from the sun peaked round the blinds. In squinted amazement, it marveled that it had arisen before me. Where was the woman who regularly paces the floor in sleep-hazed anticipation of the dawn of a new day? What could it mean, these two extra hours in bed? With a morning like this, anything could happen. The options seemed as open as the vast sunlit sky above.

There was no pressing task for this day. A potpourri of options lay scattered for the taking, or for not taking, should that be the choice. There was work to be done, but it didn’t have to be done—at least not on this day. Oddly enough, knowing it didn’t have to be done made it more appealing to do it.

Soft pillows, still warm from my sleep, cradled my back as I finished mending a dress for my daughter. It was a small job, really, and nice to complete while contemplating the rest of my day. Sweet satisfaction.

There was a knock on the door, and my son handed me a just made mug of coffee, brewed in a French press from freshly ground beans. He had added soy milk, just the way I like it.  Could a day get better than this?

And so the day continued. Each new event as pleasant as the ones it succeeded. A healthy breakfast was followed by doing some ironing—something I wanted to do. It was pure joy to complete this pleasant household chore, both because I enjoy doing it and also because I knew it was something my delightful daughter-in-law would rather not do.

Buying the Christmas tree was a family adventure, as was troubleshooting a malfunctioning computer. We were all in the kitchen foraging among the tasty remnants of yesterday’s meal for lunch. Each plate around the table reflected the particular cravings of the one who assembled it.

There was time for reading and time for watching football. There was time for sharing recipes and cookbooks—and sometimes laughing at grandma’s recipes from the 1970s when every recipe seemed to call for either cream of mushroom soup or Cool Whip. There was time for discussion of church traditions and religious cultures.  There was time for what seemed right for the moment with time left to spare—and so we ended the day by watching a family movie.

Days like to today don’t come along very often in a ‘work every day world.’ Although I began the day with no set agenda and no electronic master prodded me to stay on task, I accomplished a great deal today.

It was a practically perfect day--one that I didn't plan but that couldn't have been better planned for my enjoyment. I am grateful.

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and make himself enjoy good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God. For who can eat or who can have enjoyment any more than I can—apart from Him? For to the person who pleases Him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and heaping up, that he may give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 Amplified Bible)