Today is not a day I will remember.  I got up at my usual 4:30am.  After my prayer time, I went into the kitchen to start a pot of decaf but instead, I had a text message from my son.  I sat down on the couch to answer the message.  After I pressed send, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

The rest of the morning is a bit of a fog.  I woke up a bit before 9AM to the sound of cable news.  Sometime during those four hours, I’d turned on the TV and fallen back asleep.

Perhaps this is a good thing that I’m having a forgettable day because the last three days were pretty significant.  In fact, I was so excited about the happenings of Friday, Saturday and Sunday that I awakened at 1AM each day and I couldn’t seem to get my mind to stop revolving and rehearsing the events of the coming weekend.

To others, there may not be much significance regarding what happened.  I was directing one of the Special Gathering choirs on Saturday and again on Sunday.  The Special Gathering is a ministry within the intellectually disabled community.  Our mission is evangelism and discipleship.  I’ve been a choir director for a Special Gathering choir for about 22 years now; and I’ve not lost the joy of experiencing their performances.  In addition, they share my excitement about being given the privilege to minister and sing for the Lord.

In contrast, last night, I watched an extremely painful interview with Whitney Houston by Oprah Winfrey.  The painful thing was that Ms. Houston had lost the joy of singing.  Again and again, Oprah tried to pull from her some recognition of sorrow for having lost the opportunity to sing for almost 10 years.  But the only response from this extremely gifted woman was “I had all I needed.  I didn’t need money.  I had everything.  I didn’t need to sing anymore.”

Of course, Ms. Houston wasn’t singing for the Lord and that may have made a difference.  Nevertheless, I could not help but compare the joy The Special Gathering choir has in worship and ministry to this sad woman who “had everything.”

To be honest with you, The Special Gathering choirs are “better felt, than telt.”  Some of the choir members would even be put into the category of  Tone Deaf.  Yet what they lack in talent, they make up with joy and excitement to be serving the Lord.

Forgettable days should happen on occasion and I’m glad that for me it means a day of rest.  But to lose the joy of a new day would be sad beyond imagination for me.

What are the things that give you the most joy in your life?  Are forgettable days times of rest for you?