This is the Day...

I like being selfish when it comes to God. Is that allowed? God is mine, and sure, you can have Him, but I am convinced that I am His favorite. This perspective makes life much more exciting and even refreshing.

Yesterday, I climbed a mountain in Virginia with a good friend of mine, Bambee, and my in-too-good-of-shape-for-his-own-good brother, Jonathan. On the way to the mountain, we got lost. A rather unfortunate turn of events. The printed directions told us to take a road. At the entrance to the road was a cardboard sign that said, "No Old Rag access." (Old Rag is the name of the mountain). Well, we trusted the printed directions over the cardboard sign. We drove and drove, and right about the time we reached a 'house' made of clothes and bed sheets, we decided it wise to turn around. As we passed by the "No Access" sign, we realized there was a message at the bottom of the sign: "Google is lying." Made for a fun start to the trip.

The weather was absolutey gorgeous. No humidity, and a slight breeze with partly cloudy skies. When hiking, you cannot ask for more. My brother set a blistering pace, and we had to slow down a few times to allow my heart and lungs to catch up with my body. We reached the top in record time and I was lost for a moment in the wonder of it all. The clear blue skies. The fluffy white clouds. The birds soaring through the valley below us. The wind, so strong, so powerful. I was lost there for a moment. As I watched a pair of vultures soar over head, I had this overwhelming thought, "Today was made just for me."

Just a few yards from the summit, I stopped still in my tracks. Less than ten feet in front of me was a doe. She was beautiful, and she wasn't afraid of us. We allowed her to cross the path and took a few pictures of her. We continued on our way. I was feeling amazingly blessed.

About a half and hour later we crossed paths with a group of mountain guides all crouched down over the trail. The air was filled with this rattling sound. They looked up and said, "Want to see a rattle snake?" My first instinct was to run, but I could just picture this snake chasing me all the way down the mountain. By the sounds of it, he was not too happy at all. We creaped along the far side of the trail until we could see him, coiled up and none too happy, tucked under a bush. Again, we snapped a couple pictures, and walked away. Doubly blessed.

Less than ten minutes after the snake a buck walked across the trail in front of us. We snapped some more pictures while the guides blew by angrily (heaven forbid nature gets in the way). Triply blessed.

We caught up with the guides near a shelter at the base of the mountain. We started conversation. In the middle of which, a doe wandered out onto the trail in front of us. Are you kidding me? This is so cool! Then the guides told us about the history of the mountain and showed us some of the old ruins of the town that used to be there. We got a free guided tour.

Beyond blessed.

As we walked back to the truck and passed over rippling brooks and stopped to enjoy the plant life along the way, I couldn't help but feel very loved. God had made today just for me. It was my day. He had crafted it and had done so perfectly. Then, I realized something, even if it had poured down rain, it still would have been a day made just for me.

Even if I had tripped down the rocks and snapped my leg in half, it still would have been a day made just for me. That is what the Psalmist is saying in Psalm 118:24 when he writes, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

That verb, "hath made" is purposefully. It isn't the day that the Lord hath allowed to come to pass. It isn't the day that just happened. It is the day that the Lord hath made. Everything I face today was made specifically for me. Since my primary love language is quality time, the fact that God would take the time to fashion the details of a day just for me, speaks volumes to my heart. That is amazing. He loves me. He loves me enough to make a day for me. Just for me.

Today was made for me; Tomorrow is mine too. The best thing is, you can say the same.