Finding The Joy On A Monday...

I don't like Mondays. Yes, that's also the title of a Boomtown Rats song from the late 80's, but that's not why I said it. I don't like Mondays. After the excitement and energy of a Sunday like yesterday, I'm so fired up about life and God and church and everything that when I finally get to crash, I crash hard. Monday mornings become this giant effort to remind myself that the rest of the week starts now, and I have to get going or nothing good will happen next Sunday. I pray almost every Monday that it's a snow day and I can stay home and sleep in. Even in September.

I used to take Mondays off, but I just hated feeling that bad on my own time. I would get less than nothing done at my house, couldn't get motivated on any hobbies, and left myself feeling both wiped out and guilty when it was all over. At least when I work Mondays I can force myself to step one foot in front of the other until either the Holy Spirit or Starbucks kicks in and moves me.

The melancholy is always greater after the bigger events. After Christmas, I'm a waste-oid, and the Monday after Easter is the bottom of an emotional and physical sink hole that takes a couple days to get out of. Big Sundays, like when we have a baptism or some other big deal, always take it out of me just a little bit more than an 'average' Sunday. Which makes how I feel today a little strange.

I'm pasted. I'm gassed. I'm rung out. I'm toast. I'm blotto. It feels like the Monday after Easter without the ham leftovers in my fridge. It took me a little while to figure out why I'm so empty today, but here's what I think it was: this was a big Sunday in disguise. It was a message about giving God control of our lives, letting Him make the call for us, and God moved a bunch of people to sign up for ministry, make time to talk through sticky issues with someone, and give financially. We had the best offering of the year at a time when we truely needed it. God moved in our service and through our people, and He's positioning us for the next steps. It wasn't the biggest crowd ever, but people were engaged. It wasn't the best message I've ever preached, but people were listening. It wasn't the BIG PRODUCTION Sunday, but it was a day that something changed.

I don't know if I'm over reading, or if I'm just coming down with the flu, but the way I feel, coupled with the response of God's people to the Word as it was preached makes me think that God nudged us a step yesterday. So I'm looking for the joy today. I'm looking for the opportunity to give God the Praise for what He's doing in our church and in my life today. I'm excited to hear what comes from the ministry sign ups and the personal decisions people made yesterday. I'm believing God that this is the begining of having the resources we need to step our ministry up a couple notches. I'm praising God for the time, talent and treasure that will be released into His hands for ministry in the weeks to come, and what impact that's going to have on our valley.

So Melancholy Monday, move over. I'm busy praising today.