Have a Happy New Day!

 

"We wish you a Merry Christmas!"  My three year old daughter sang to whoever would listen.  "We wish you a Merry Christmas!  We wish you a Merry Christmas!  And a Happy New Day!"

"I think it's a Happy New Year, Elise," I gently corrected her.

"No, Dad," she said.  Elise is too smart to be deceived by anyone -- particularly someone as old as her dad.

I thought about her adjusted words to the classic Christmas song.  Elise isn't really good with lengths of time.  She talks about "to-narrow," I guess referring to tomorrow.  She will mention that something is going to "happen in the future," by which she means that she hopes it happens soon.  Certainly, the concept of a year's length of time is hard to grasp for someone who has only lived three of them on this earth.

New Years have a way of standing out to me -- I can remember a little over 40 of them.  The emphasis is always on the new part -- it is a clean year, unspoiled by my grubby hands and imperfections.  These years are shining, spotless from the factory, and ready to become a beautiful new chapter in my life.

Then, with January 1st, it begins and from the start, things don't exactly go according to plan.  I get frustrated with my children and impatient with personal growth and development.  By January 3rd of 2023, I am ready for 2024 to see if I can do better.

I still have the rest of the year to get through.

So, I like Elise's version better, because I really cannot take a year at a time.  A day is more my speed.

I suppose this is what the prophet Jeremiah was thinking when he wrote, "They (God's mercies) are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness." (Lam. 3:23)

It is better to take things one day at a time -- one minute at a time -- in order to get through a year with 365 new days in it.

It will take all of God's grace and mercy to get us through 2023, one Happy New Day, at a time.