Day By Day

I love the lyrics to the hymn, Day By Day. They're beautiful. And, it's something I've been learning in the last year or so; to take things day by day, moment by moment.

I've always been a planner. Well, actually, a dreamer-planner. As in, I dream up plans for years into the future and never actually have a real, usable/doable plans. But often, when my dream-plans get upset, it feels as though a real plan has been upset. It's kind of hard to explain.

If you've been reading my blog for the last year and a half, you probably know that after I graduated high school, I had lots of those dream-plans; plans that took me a long time to give up. They were times of uncertainty. Not the first such times, and certainly not the last. But I feel as though I have learned, or rather, progressed, in learning the lesson of living day to day. And somehow, as I face a new time of uncertainty, I find that my new perspective frees me to be, weirdly enough, excited about the unknown future. I feel the suspenseful, exciting anticipation of a great treasure at the end of a dark tunnel.

I don't think it's wrong to plan a little. For instance, this weekend, I plan, God-willing, to go to a lovely violin recital followed by a party for a friend and a day in Leavenworth. Every week, I plan to keep my once-a-week babysitting engagement. I plan on going to church on Sundays, and to Bellevue to witness on Tuesdays. But, these are real plans, not dream-plans. And they're qualified by the statement, 'God-willing.' Living day by day makes it easier to qualify my plans. It makes me more flexible, more excited for the revealing of the unknown.

It's kind of weird, really. I've never had this perspective before. But, I guess it makes sense, because God never promises strength for tomorrow until tomorrow becomes today. His grace is sufficient. Of course, if you think to pray that God will reveal the next part of my future, go right ahead. ;)


Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest. 

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He Whose Name is Counselor and Power;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
Ever to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.