Thank Goodness!

Melissa Logsdon – March 10, 2026 1 Comment

Today I got up feeling not so happy. Not so joyful. Not so grateful.

I felt tired. And sick. And “sick and tired” of being sick and tired.

“Don’t worry: tomorrow will be better.”

“Tomorrow’s a new day”.

These sayings, although meant to encourage, can sometimes feel like rubbing salt in an open wound. I find myself rolling my eyes when I hear these and similar platitudes, especially when each day feels very much like the one before. When the new day still brings us pain and suffering–in our lives, for our loved ones, for our world.

And yet…

If I look hard enough, I CAN often find some hope, some sunlight breaking through into the new day.

“Certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn’t ended; certainly God’s compassion isn’t through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 CEB)

These words were not declared on a mountaintop moment, but rather from a depressed state recalling all the suffering…and so responded “…therefore, I will wait for God.” (vs 24)

These words become more than platitudes, they describe the reality that I get to live in. Calling to mind God’s faithfulness, looking for God’s compassionate love. I enter into a state of waiting with expectant hope. 

In those moments I resonate with the psalmist: 

“I hope, Lord, my whole being hopes, and I wait for God’s promise. My whole being waits for my Lord–more than the night watch waits for morning; yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!” (Psalm 130: 5-6 CEB)

I wait for a tangible expression of God’s presence before me. Usually, it’s me wanting to see a “big” change in my circumstances, in our world. But, recently, I’ve been looking for smaller expressions of God in my life. Often easy to miss, but just as meaningful. 

I’m looking for good things in my everyday life and practicing acknowledging these good things. I’m recording them in my journals, gathering objects to serve as tangible reminders, and telling others about them. I’m entering into a heart space of letting gratitude flow more freely in thanks to God. This intentionality is thanks to a recent blogpost I read from Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is encouraging her readers to join with her in looking for good things in their lives during this Lent season (#40daysofgoodshit).  

Here’s some of the good I’ve found in the past week:

• A visit from an out of town friend.
• Taking my dog for a walk on a sunshiny warm spring day.
• A moment where the clouds parted and sunshine reflected off a passing car.
• The glow of a candle.
• New supportive slippers.
• Cooking and enjoying a Mediterranean themed breakfast with Steve.
• Finding strength and peace on my yoga mat.

Looking for and recording these good moments is helping me enter into gratitude and dare I say…happiness?

Sometimes I struggle to say I am happy. After all, so much is not right in my life. In our world. It feels like I’m somehow committing treason to all the pain in and around me. It also, somehow doesn’t feel “holy” to talk about being “happy”. Whereas, it feels much more reasonable to just say I have “the joy of the Lord”. But I feel like I’m being prompted to declare more happiness in my life, while still holding the reality that all is not all right yet.

So, I’m telling myself that “happiness is not treason to my pain”. (Which is my take on something that Nadia Bolz-Weber said in a recent blog.) I can choose each day to look for the good in my life, to celebrate that goodness; to remind others of God’s good gifts–like sunlight and friendships.

And… I set up “stones of remembrance” to remind me of God’s goodness. Sometimes it’s just a jot in my day planner. Right now it’s a pinecone sitting on the center of my kitchen table. 

Somehow, I find myself much “happier” than I was when I woke up this morning. I’m still sick and tired, but recalling all these good moments has lifted my heart a bit.  

“A joyful heart helps healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22 CEB)

Somedays it feels like a grand excavation to find the good, and other days, you may find yourself tripping over all the good in your life! Whatever is before you today, may you find something good to remind you of God’s faithfulness.–Melissa Logsdon, NCF Associate Pastor