Some days I look back and try to remember if I did anything worth writing about at all.  Page 213 is one of those days.  I guess that is part of the benefit of writing these daily pages — they often serve to remind me not only of what I was doing throughout the day, but more importantly, some of what God was teaching me through those moments.

My day began with a stop to put some fuel in my truck as the low fuel warning light has been on for a couple days.  On my way into the building at work, I stopped and took care of a wasp nest that I had been told about Sunday.  They were not very active in the cool air of the early morning, so I was able to remove and destroy the nest without too much trouble.  Once inside the building I checked to make sure the bathrooms and the rest of the building were ready for the day.  As I turned on my office computer to check messages, I noticed a baby deer out munching on the brush at the edge of the woods.  As I got my camera out, it was soon joined by its mother so I was able to get a few photos of both of them before they wandered into the woods.

Most of the rest of my workday was spent working on a combination of a sermon for Sunday, the Growing Strong prayer retreat concept, and started the monthly record keeping for the Deer Run missions.  I suppose working on each of those projects without finishing any of them contributed to my feelings of not accomplishing anything.  It is in the looking back that I can see I made progress on each of them that moved me nearer to readiness and completion.  It is a good reminder that God judges my life according to faithfulness and not according to a checklist of tasks completed.  Sometimes it is not my job to complete a task today but to just move it further along.  Or as the Bible teaches, some planted, some watered, but God gives the increase.  

By mid-afternoon, my workday was done and I stopped for a late lunch on my way home.  At home, I put a little more work into the Growing Strong retreat material and then did a little unwinding with some computer games.  By early evening I thought about going for a family walk, but ended up in a nap instead.  After I got up we did go out for a walk, but it was cut short by a steady rain that fell even with a large proportion of blue sky overhead.  We still managed to get some walking in and took some photos while we were out.  With the rain and sun combination, I kept looking for a rainbow but none was found.  On our drive home, a short piece of a rainbow began to appear and when we got home it was still present in the sky.  Today’s photo is of that visible portion of the rainbow.  It was a good finish to the day as it serves not only as a reminder of God’s specific promise to never again flood the entire earth with water, but it also serves to remind me that God always keeps His promises.  That is a comforting reminder to know that my relationship with God is secure because of His promise, not because of my accomplishments.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• When you’re near empty, it is a good idea to refill before you can’t go any further.
• Just because it feels like you didn’t accomplish anything, it doesn’t mean you haven’t.
• Dealing with problems in an environment that is calm is easier than waiting until the situation is agitated.
• When people or things are agitated, sometime it is better to wait until calm prevails, if possible, to deal with problems.
• Sometimes my task is only to complete a task that is part of a bigger picture.  The finishing of the bigger picture may be mine for another day, or it may not even be mine to complete.
• Faithfulness in keeping at what God wants is better than accomplishing and finishing what I want.
• Even when the rains come, it is good to get outside and spend an evening with my family.
• God always keeps His promises.  He even reminds us not only of His promises, but of His faithfulness in keeping them.