here we go again

You know those times when your household gets hit with a sickness that slams everyone at the same time, and it's a rough 24 hours but you get through it and then it’s over? But then there are the other sicknesses, the ones that take their sweet time. The ones that seem to drag on and on, a new person sick every day.

Well, my family has been dealing with option two all week. It’s nothing major, just an annoying cold, but it’s kept us home and canceled plans, and let's just say I’ve started having some attitude about it. So much so that my first thought when I opened my eyes this morning was “Here we go again.” I dragged myself out of bed and into the chaos, feeling unmotivated, more than a little melancholy, and restless after being trapped at home for most of the week. I mumbled my way through a prayer that quickly turned into a list of complaints rather than a conversation and went about my day. 

But later in the morning, my sweet sister-in-law called to tell me about a book she’s reading called Njuta, which is the Swedish word for “enjoy” or “delight in.” As she described the book and the concept of taking time to savor simple pleasures in our lives, I knew this wasn’t just a nice phone call—it was an answer to my prayers. It was a gentle nudge from the Lord reminding me what an absolute miracle “here we go again” truly is.

There’s a Swedish proverb that goes, "Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more; and all good things are yours." 

That proverb reminds me of a quote from Gary B. Sabin which says, “We are surrounded by innumerable blessings that we can easily take for granted if we are not mindful. Conversely, when nothing is expected and everything is appreciated, life becomes magical.” 

You see, this week (and many other weeks, let’s be honest), I’d forgotten what a thrill it is to just be alive on this earth. To have a body that moves and breathes and tastes and hears and sees every second of every day. I needed the reminder that if we want to experience joy and excitement in life, we don’t need our lives to change—we need to change our perspective. 

I don’t think that means we ignore the hard parts or plaster on fake smiles; life is a struggle more often than it is easy, and we need to leave space for all of it. But if we want to experience life the way God intended us to—the good, the bad, and every other thing in between—then we need to practice leaning into each moment for what it is. 

I love the song “Manna (After All These Years)” by Chris Renzema. Some of the lyrics from that song have stuck with me since the first time I heard them: 

‘Cause even when I’ve lost my taste for manna 

it comes from heaven all the same, every day.  

Whether or not I recognize the miracle hidden in the mundane 

Oh, the bread of heaven’s offered either way. 

So instead of grumbling to God, “Here we go again,” I want to turn it into an exclamation of gratitude because I woke up this morning to another day full of possibilities and chances and forgiveness and love. 

Each of us has the sacred opportunity to find the magic in the mundane. And each of us gets to decide whether we want to savor the manna that’s dropped down from heaven every single day or throw it out and wish for something we think is better. 

It’s our choice. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? 

Here we go again!