Project 365 Day 40: Small Victories

Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L, 1.6 aperture, 1/400 shutter, 100 ISO

God has been speaking to me today. Through laundry, through coffee with a friend, through twitter, through my daughter. Different sources, same message. Take joy in the small victories.

I heard Him whisper through the freshly folded laundry sitting in the sunlight. “ Well done.” How could I not to take a few moments to photograph the warm towels by the sunflowers, so cheerful and comforting? It was a moment worth savoring.

Then, when I warmed my coffee back up, I was surprised by how clean the microwave was. I had cleaned it a couple days before. I felt relieved and happy by this seemingly insignificant finding. So much so that I tweeted it. “At least the microwave is clean”, was my profound thought that I sent out to the world. I got an immediate response from a friend.  He said, “I tell my kids to celebrate the small victories, too. Or else they’ll never experience the feeling of winning.”  I really liked that. Seemed there was a theme going here. Little things matter.

My conversation with another friend circled around similar subjects. We talked about making our moments count, and living life with no regrets, focusing on the joys and not the mistakes. Powerful stuff.

This indeed is a great source of joy. What if we, every time we completed a task successfully, breathed in the moment and felt the satisfaction and the beauty of it? Life is made up of these mundane moments, and yet we only seem to focus on the big stuff. God Himself set the ultimate example for us while creating the earth. In the first chapter of Genesis, He takes time to take notice of His work to say that it is good seven times. He is enjoying His labor. How does this compare you say? Creating the world and doing laundry can hardly be compared! Maybe, but it is the way He does it. He works a little, then almost stands back and enjoys it, and then calls it “good.” Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

I think my favorite conversation of the day was that of the one I had with my daughter, Annie . I was feeling pretty discouraged about something, and she asked me if she could pray with me. In the prayers of my daughter, I was lifted out of my momentary self-loathing, and taken into the capable arms of my God. Through my daughter. A moment worth remembering. Wish I knew how to photograph that feeling.

May you find joy today in the small things.

“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time”. ~ James Taylor

Psalm 90:12 ~ “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”