Redeem the Time

Last week, Chick-Fil-A had their annual "Cow Appreciation Day" where if you dress like a cow, they give you a free meal. The year before, I joined some friends and we (one more eagerly than the rest of us) set out to our nearby Chick-Fil-A dressed as bovine and received our prize. Andrew was unable to go b/c he was working but assured us that he WOULD have gone with us.

Lately the Lord has been putting on my heart to make more of life than I have been. As silly as it may sound, I got really excited when I saw the update that Cow Appreciation Day was coming up again. Andrew assured me that he would dress up with us, so I cut up felt and added spots to our clothing. Olivia looked particularly adorable with her little cow ears. She was grumpy before we left so I teased Andrew that she had a case of mad cow disease.

We grinned when we walked into the store and heard "oohs" and "ahhs" about the baby cow that had just come in. We grinned as we sat eating our food, looking at each other with black felt tucked into my hair and under his hat. We grinned looking at our little calf contentedly chewing on her hands. It was one of the silliest, grinning-est meals we'd had in quite a while. Was it the felt ears on our heads? Or could it be that we were making more of that moment than we might have otherwise?

I'm challenged to be more intentional about making moments special. To pull out the nice dishes...just because. To put on a record and dance. To not take myself so seriously that I can't celebrate silly things like Cow Appreciation Day. To celebrate half birthdays, winter's half over day, Sabbath meals, and whatever else may present itself. By seeking moments to celebrate, I can't help but think we give glory to our Father for being a joyful people.